Lighting element-centric network of networks

ABSTRACT

A lighting system utilizes intelligent lighting system elements, such as lighting devices, user interfaces for lighting control or the like and possibly sensors. The system also has a data communication network. Some number of the intelligent lighting system elements, including at least two of the lighting devices, also support optical wireless communication with non-lighting-system devices at the premises having optical transmitters and receivers. Each such element has a communication interface system configured to provide the optical wireless data communication link for use by other non-lighting-system devices at the premises via one of visible light spectrum; infrared light; or ultraviolet (UV) light. Also, in such an element, the processor is configured to control communications via the communication interface system so as to provide access to the data network and through the data network to the wide area network outside the premises for non-lighting related communications of non-lighting-system devices.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/964,564, Filed Aug. 12, 2013 entitled “LIGHTING ELEMENT-CENTRICNETWORK OF NETWORKS”, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/903,330,Filed May 28, 2013 entitled “LIGHTING NETWORK WITH AUTONOMOUSCOMMISSIONING,” the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated hereinby reference.

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/903,428,Filed May 28, 2013 entitled “DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING USING RESOURCES OFINTELLIGENT LIGHTING ELEMENTS OF A LIGHTING SYSTEM,” the disclosure ofwhich is entirely incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The examples discussed below relate to lighting systems, system elementsand components thereof, wherein the system includes networkinterconnectivity of the lighting system elements as well as wirelesscommunication for other devices or equipment that may communicate withor through the lighting system elements and the network communicationsmedia of the lighting system for other non-lighting purposes.

BACKGROUND

Electrical lighting has become commonplace in modern society. Electricallighting devices are commonly deployed, for example, in homes, buildingsof commercial and other enterprise establishments, as well as in variousoutdoor settings. Even in a relatively small state or country, there maybe millions of lighting devices in use.

Traditional lighting devices have tended to be relatively dumb, in thatthey can be turned ON and OFF, and in some cases may be dimmed, usuallyin response to user activation of a relatively simple input device.Lighting devices have also been controlled in response to ambient lightdetectors that turn on a light only when ambient light is at or below athreshold (e.g. as the sun goes down) and in response to occupancysensors (e.g. to turn on light when a room is occupied and to turn thelight off when the room is no longer occupied for some period). Oftentraditional lighting devices are controlled individually or asrelatively small groups at separate locations.

With the advent of modern electronics has come advancement, includingadvances in the types of light sources as well as advancements innetworking and control capabilities of the lighting devices. Forexample, solid state sources are now becoming a commercially viablealternative to traditional light sources such as incandescent andfluorescent lamps. By nature, solid state light sources such as lightemitting diodes (LEDs) are easily controlled by electronic logiccircuits or processors. Electronic controls have also been developed forother types of light sources. As increased processing capacity finds itsway into the lighting devices, it becomes relatively easy to incorporateassociated communications capabilities, e.g. to allow lighting devicesto communicate with system control elements and/or with each other. Inthis way, advanced electronics in the lighting devices as well as theassociated control elements have facilitated more sophisticated lightingcontrol algorithms as well as increased networking of lighting devices.

There also have been various other initiatives to provide communicationnetworks and automation throughout a home or other type of building. Forexample, today, many buildings and/or enterprise campuses include localarea data communication networks. Increasingly, some of theseinstallations support communications for automated control and/ormonitoring purposes, which may use the data network or othercommunication media in support of control and/or monitoring functions.For example, a building control and automation system may allowpersonnel of an enterprise to communicate with and control varioussystems, such as heating-air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC)equipment, at one or more enterprise premises. For home automation,applications are now available to allow a user to operate a mobiledevice (e.g. smartphone or tablet) to communicate with and control smartdevices in the home, such as appliance, HVAC and audio-visual systems.To the extent that these developments in communication and automationhave considered lighting, they have only included the lighting relatedelements as controlled outputs (e.g. to turn ON/OFF or otherwise adjustlighting device output) and in a few cases as sensed condition inputs(e.g. to receive data from light level or room occupancy type sensordevices). The focus of such communication networks or automation systemshas instead centered around other perspectives, such as around controlof HVAC or other major enterprise systems and/or around the relevantuser/data communications aspects (e.g. mobile devices and associatedapplications).

Conversely, as more and more devices become intelligent and may utilizedata communications in support of new features and functions, the demandon data communication media within the premises skyrockets. Traditionalnetworking, utilizing hard links such as various types of electricalwiring or optical cables, is often expensive to install and may not bepractical in many premises. Even if installed within a premises, it maynot be particularly easy to connect new devices at different locationsto the existing media and/or to move devices about the premises andstill readily connect to the on-premises network media.

Wireless media offer increased flexibility and/or mobility. However, asmore and more of our everyday objects become connected and start usingwireless communication, the available radio spectrum is quickly becomingsaturated.

There is room for further improvement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord withthe present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations.In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similarelements.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a simple example of a systemhaving intelligent lighting devices and other intelligent systemelements for lighting related functions linked or networked for datacommunications, which also supports network communications with a widerange of other devices or equipment inside and/or outside the premisesvia wireless links with the intelligent lighting system elements.

FIG. 2 is an alternate block diagram of such a system, with a higherlevel illustration of the system and other devices at the premises butuseful in understanding examples of various systems/entities that may beinvolved in communication with lighting system elements and otherdevices at the premises.

FIG. 3 is diagram including block illustrations for elements outside apremises and a layout of a simple example of a portion of a residentialbuilding with an overlay of system elements in that portion of thepremises, useful in understanding various examples of networkconfigurations that may be implemented in a system like that shown inFIG. 1 and/or FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram, for a simple example of a portion of a building orfloor with an overlay of system elements, useful in understandinglogical associations of system elements that may be implemented in asystem like that shown in FIG. 1 and related client-servercommunications.

FIG. 5 is an alternative diagram of selected aspects of the system ofFIG. 1, representing an example of multiple-instance server type ofdistributed processing.

FIG. 6 is a stack diagram useful in explaining example of programconfiguration.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a simple example of a procedure fordistributed processing, involving resource sharing, which may beimplemented in a lighting system like that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a is a simplified functional block diagram of a computer thatmay be configured as a host or server, for example, to function as theexternal server or a server if provided at the premises in the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a simplified functional block diagram of a personal computeror other user terminal device, which may be used as the remote accessterminal, in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a simplified functional block diagram of a mobile device, asan alternate example of a user terminal device, for possiblecommunication in or with the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilledin the art that the present teachings may be practiced without suchdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, withoutdetail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentteachings.

Each of the various examples of a lighting system discussed below andshown in the drawings includes or connects to media to form a datacommunication network within the premises. The network provides datacommunications for equipment at the premises and will often provideaccess to a wider area data network extending outside the premises, forexample to an intranet or to a wide area network such as or providingaccess to the public Internet. Such a system also includes intelligentlighting system elements that communicate with each other via thenetwork and/or through the network with external networks and/or othersystems/devices. However, at least some of the intelligent lightingsystem elements at the premises also are configured to provide wirelessdata network access for other (non-lighting-system) devices within thepremises serviced by the lighting system.

The intelligent lighting system elements include a number of lightingdevices, at least one light controller for a lighting-related userinterface (e.g. analogous to a wall panel) and/or at least onestandalone lighting-related sensor. Each of the intelligent lightingsystem elements has a communication interface system configured toprovide data communication via a link to the system's data network. Inthe examples, the communication interface system in a number of theintelligent lighting system elements, e.g. in two or more intelligentlighting devices, also supports wireless data communication with otherdevices in the vicinity.

As more and more of our everyday objects become connected, it is oftendesirable that such other non-lighting-system devices use wirelesscommunication. However, with increased wireless usage, the availableradio spectrum may quickly become saturated. In principle, there areseveral ways to increase the number of connected devices. For example,it may be possible to increase the number of available channels, e.g. toincrease the amount of available spectrum or to increase the number ofchannels within a given spectrum range. Neither of these options may beviable given existing standards and regulatory conditions. Anotheroption is to limit the physical distance that any given signal canpropagate so that the same channel can be used in multiple physicallocations simultaneously. A common way of achieving thisdistance-limited approach is to limit the power of the transmitters ofthe various wireless capable devices so each wireless signal attenuatesto within noise levels over a relatively short distance. However,distance limitations may be too restrictive in some installations unlessit is feasible to also install more wireless access points or the likewithin the short range of all the devices needing data communicationaccess within the premises. Installation of wireless access points,particularly in large numbers also may be complicated and expensive,e.g. to provide power and a network link to each such access point.

However, lighting at a premises is a common installation. Most if notall of the lighting devices at a premises will have a mains powerconnection to provide the power for the light source. User interfacedevices and lighting related sensors may also have connections to thepower mains at the premises. In a system like that under considerationhere, the lighting system elements also have links into the datacommunication network at the premises. Stated another way, once thelighting system is installed, power and data communication capabilitieswill extend to most if not all of the intelligent elements of thelighting system. In many such premises, there will be any number of suchlighting devices and a controller and/or a sensor in every room,corridor or other type of area at the premises. Stated another way,there will be a fairly substantial number of intelligent lighting systemelements, with power and data communication capability deployed aboutthe premises. Such intelligent lighting system elements thereforeprovide a suitable location for addition of elements in support ofwireless data communication at the premises, e.g. without the need forseparate data network links or power connections for separatelyinstalled wireless access points.

Hence, in the examples of the system as discussed below, each of somenumber of the intelligent lighting system elements has a communicationinterface that supports wireless communication with other devices byproviding a relatively short range low power wireless link for use byother/non-lighting-system devices in proximity to the intelligent systemelement. The processor of such a wireless capable intelligent systemelement is configured to control communications via the communicationinterface system to provide access to the data network of the lightingsystem and through that data network to the wider area network outsidethe premises, for non-lighting-system related communications of theother devices.

The processor of the lighting system element supporting wirelesscommunication for non-lighting-system devices may also permit some datacommunications of such another device within range with the systemelement itself or with other intelligent lighting system elements. Thistype of communication with one or more system elements (as opposed toaccess to a wider area data network), for example, may supportcommissioning of other devices on the system and/or allow intelligentlighting system elements to provide some data processing service(s) insupport of operations of the other devices on the premises (if deemedappropriate and/or if such services(s) would not compromise systemsecurity).

Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and discussed below.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a networked lighting system 10,many elements of which are installed at a premises 12. The premises 12may be any location or locations serviced for lighting and otherpurposes by a networked intelligent lighting system of the typedescribed herein. Most of the examples discussed below focus on buildinginstallations, for convenience, although the system may be readilyadapted to outdoor lighting. Hence, the example of system 10 provideslighting and possibly other services in a number of service areas in orassociated with a building, such as various rooms, hallways, corridorsor storage areas of a building and an outdoor area associated with abuilding. Any building forming or at the premises, for example, may bean individual or multi-resident dwelling or may provide space for one ormore enterprises and/or any combination of residential and enterprisefacilities.

The lighting system elements, in a system like system 10 of FIG. 1 mayinclude any number of lighting devices 11, such as fixtures and lamps,as well as lighting controllers, such as switches dimmers and smartcontrol panels. The lighting controllers may be implemented byintelligent user interface devices 13, although intelligent userinterface devices on the system 10 may serve other purposes. Thelighting system elements may also include one or more sensors used tocontrol lighting functions, such as occupancy sensors, ambient lightsensors and light or temperature feedback sensors that detect conditionsof or produced by one or more of the lighting devices. If provided, thesensors may be implemented in intelligent standalone system elements 15,or the sensors may be incorporated in intelligent lighting devices, e.g.as an enhanced capability of a lighting device, or in UI devices. Thelighting system elements 11, 13, 15, in a system like system 10 of FIG.1, are coupled to and communicate via a data network at the premises 12.A system like that shown in the drawing may incorporate or at leastprovide communication capabilities or services for use by other(non-lighting-system) devices 19 within the premises 12.

Hence, in our example, each room or other type of lighting service areailluminated by the system 10 includes a number of lighting devices 11 aswell as other system elements such as one or more user interface (UI)devices 13 each configured as a lighting controller or the like and/orone or more sensors. In the example, some lighting devices 11A areenhanced by the inclusion of a sensor 15A. However, sensors also may beprovided as standalone system elements as shown at 15. As will bediscussed more later, lighting devices 11B include wirelesscommunication interfaces to provide wireless data communication accessfor other devices 19 within wireless range.

Although not shown for convenience, some lighting devices 11 may nothave a sensor and may not support the wireless communication for otherdevices 19. Conversely, some lighting devices 11 may have both a sensorand the additional wireless communication capability. For example, insome areas or premises, wireless communication access provided by somebut not all system elements may be sufficient to serve the expectednumber of other devices 19 in the particular area or premises. Asanother example, there may be some areas at a particular premises whereit is desirable to have wireless coverage while there are other areas atthe premises in which wireless coverage is deemed undesirable orunnecessary. Alternatively, all of the lighting devices 11 at a givenpremises 12 may support wireless communication for other devices 19.

A room or other service area will often have an appropriate number oflighting devices 11, for example, to provide a desired level of lightingfor the intended use of the particular space. In many installations, theequipment in the service area also includes a user interface (UI)device, which in this example, serves as a first lighting controller 13.In a similar fashion, the equipment in the service area may include oneor more sensors, each of which may be in or closely associated with oneof the lighting devices 11A as represented by the sensor 15A or may be astandalone device such as 15. Examples of lighting operation relatedsensors include occupancy sensors and sensors of one or more lightcharacteristics (e.g. for sensing level and/or color characteristic(s)of ambient light in the service area and/or of light produced in oroutput by one or more of the lighting devices 11 that illuminates theservice area). Other sensors may detect other conditions that arerelevant to other functions of the system or for more generalcommunication about conditions in an area for still further purposes,such as temperature or humidity for HVAC control or vibration forreporting of earthquakes or similar events, microphones, still or videocameras, directional optical sensors such as a quadrant hemisphericallight detector or “QHD” (see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,877,490 and5,914,487), etc. Other examples of conditions that may be detected byappropriate sensors include a security condition, an accident/collisiondetection, an object/occupant identification, etc. Different sensors fordifferent types or sets of conditions may be relevant in differentsystem installations, e.g. some of these examples might be more relevantin warehouse type system applications. Sensors for such othernon-lighting related conditions could be provided as part of lightingsystem 10 in a manner similar to 15, 15A, for example, if offered by theentity selling/installing the system 10 at the premises 12. For purposesof further discussion of FIG. 1, however, we will focus ofimplementations that include sensors for purposes related to lightingoperations of the system 10; and in such system implementation, anysensors for other non-lighting related conditions will be implemented insome of the other devices 19.

For lighting operations, the lighting system elements for a givenservice area (11, 13 and/or 15) are coupled together for networkcommunication with each other through data communication media to form aportion of a physical data communication network. Similar elements inother service areas of the premises are coupled together for networkcommunication with each other through data communication media to formone or more other portions of the physical data communication network atthe premises 12. The various portions of the network in the serviceareas in turn are coupled together to form a data communication networkat the premises, for example to form a local area network (LAN) or thelike, as generally represented by the cloud 17 in the drawing. In manyinstallations, there may be one overall data communication network 17 atthe premises. However, for larger premises and/or premises that mayactually encompass somewhat separate physical locations, thepremises-wide network 17 may actually be built of somewhat separate butinterconnected physical networks represented by the dotted line clouds.

A system like that of FIG. 1 may be used for communications with otherdevices 19 within the premises 12 as well as with lighting systemrelated equipment and a wide range of other entities/equipment outsidethe premises 12. Effectively, the lighting system becomes acommunication hub providing data communication access, for other typesof devices and those wanting to communicate therewith.

Light fixtures will typically have power. Other system elements, such asthe user interface devices and/or any standalone lighting sensors willalso typically have power. In a system like that of FIG. 1, suchintelligent elements also have network connectivity, for datacommunication access to the network 17 and through that network 17 toother networks on and/or outside the premises 12. In addition tolighting elements such as 11, 13 and 15, many other devices at any givenpremises 12 are intelligent and configured to utilize data communicationnetworking. A separate network for such devices could be provided,however, that incurs additional cost for equipment and installation.Hence, the other devices 19 in the example of system utilize the samenetwork 17. Although the other devices 19 could link directly to thenetwork 17, the example of the system 10 utilizes wireless datacommunication to one or more of the lighting elements such as 11, 13 and15 that include wireless data communication interfaces.

Wired connections to the network 17 may tend to be expensive and limitthe location and mobility of such other devices within the premises.Direct wireless communication with the network 17 may be feasible insome premises and/or at some locations on a particular premises.However, as outlined earlier, to service large numbers of devices withina given premises, particularly without undue restrictions on location ormobility within the premises, the devices may often need to operate atlow power levels and thus communicate wirelessly over short distances.

Since installation of the lighting system 10 creates a permanent andpervasive communication network throughout a facility or space, it wouldbe beneficial to use this network to deploy many low-power radiotransducers (e.g. pico or femto cells, WiFi hotspots, etc.) throughoutthe area served by the lighting system. In this way, devicessold/installed by other parties and/or any devices using radiocommunications could potentially use much lower power and thereforeallow many more devices to work in a building or other space.

Hence, some or all of the lighting devices 11 and possibly one or moreof the lighting controllers 13 and/or standalone lighting relatedsensors 15 include wireless data communication interfaces. Although theinterfaces may utilize readily available standardized wirelesscommunication technologies, the wireless interfaces as well ascompatible devices within the premises will typically operate at arelatively low power. However, because there are sufficient wirelessaccess nodes provided by the lighting system elements there issufficient coverage throughout a substantial portion and possibly all ofthe premises 12 to allow other devices in the various areas of thepremises to wirelessly communicate through the those lighting systemelements and the backbone data network 17 of the lighting system 10.

The lighting system 10 may also support autonomous discovery andcommissioning. Although such discovery and commissioning amongst thesystem elements 11, 13, 15 may be particularly useful in system set-up,some aspects may also apply to allowing other devices 19 to communicatewith or through the system 10. For example, lighting devices 11 and/orother intelligent system elements 13 or 15 may be configured toautonomously discover other devices 19 and commission discovered devicesat least to the extent appropriate to permit the access to the system'sdata network 17 and through that network to the WAN 61 outside thepremises for non-lighting related communications of the other devices.

The networking within the premises 12 includes both physical and logicalarrangements. For example, a network within a room or other service areafor the lighting elements 11, 13, 15 also provides physical network datacommunication capabilities for other devices 19 within the room or otherservice area. The lighting elements 11, 13, 15 in a service area alsowill typically be logically grouped together, e.g. for coordinatedlighting of the room or other type of service area. However, varioussets of the lighting elements 11, 13, 15 throughout a premises 12 may belogically grouped together, in various ways for different purposes, e.g.all sensors of a particular type, all lighting devices on each floor oron a particular side of a building, etc. Much as with the lightingsystem elements 11, 13, 15, the other elements 19 can be logicallygrouped together to form logical sub-networks, based on a variety oflogical relationships. For example, devices by a particular manufacturermay be logically grouped and allowed to communicate with externalequipment of or associated with that manufacturer (e.g. of themanufacturer's service department or of a service contractor for themanufacturer). As another example, sensors of a particular type deployedas other devices may be grouped together and configured to report to aninterested authorized entity, e.g. vibration sensors providing data to anational geographic survey institute for earthquake related reportingand/or to a building maintenance organization to report vibration fromlocal events/sources (machinery, traffic, etc.).

The wireless communication and network aspects of the system 10 enableother devices to access and communicate through the wide area network 61outside the premises 12. In some examples of arrangements of the system10, at least some type(s) of other devices 19 also may communicate withintelligent lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 at the premises forprocessing in support of the operation(s) of such other devices. Forexample, for some functions associated with the other devices 19, one ormore of the intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 may operateas a server with respect to client functionality in the other devices(s)19. For example, the server functionality may work as a central overseer(CO) to assist in set-up of devices 19 on the system 10 and/or provideintermediate functions between the devices 19 and equipment outside thepremises (e.g. server relative to the device client functions in thepremises, and either client with respect to an external server or serverwith respect to an external client terminal). Depending on thefunctionality and/or the processing load required for the functionalitysupported in the lighting system element(s), a number of the intelligentlighting system elements may be configured to perform the processingoperation to support an operation of a processor of other device(s) 19in a distributed processing manner using processing and/or memoryresources of each of some number of the intelligent lighting systemelements. The distributed processing may be implemented as distributedinstances of server software/functions, and/or the distributedprocessing may be implemented as resource sharing amongst the involvedintelligent lighting system elements.

It may be helpful next to consider examples of the structures of theintelligent lighting system elements (11, 13, 15) in a bit more detail,albeit at a relatively high, functional level. In that regard, we firstconsider the lighting devices.

The term “lighting device” as used herein is intended to encompassessentially any type of device that processes power to generate light,for example, for illumination of a space intended for use of oroccupancy or observation, typically by a living organism that can takeadvantage of or be affected in some desired manner by the light emittedfrom the device. However, a lighting device may provide light for use byautomated equipment, such as sensors/monitors, robots, etc. that mayoccupy or observe the illuminated space, instead of or in addition tolight provided for an organism. A lighting device, for example, may takethe form of a lamp, light fixture or other luminaire that incorporates asource, where the source by itself contains no intelligence orcommunication capability (e.g. LEDs or the like, or lamp (“regular lightbulbs”) of any suitable type). Alternatively, a fixture or luminaire maybe relatively dumb but include a source device (e.g. a “light bulb”)that incorporates the intelligence and communication capabilitiesdiscussed herein. In most examples, the lighting device(s) illuminate aservice area to a level useful for a human in or passing through thespace, e.g. regular illumination of a room or corridor in a building orof an outdoor space such as a street, sidewalk, parking lot orperformance venue. However, it is also possible that one or morelighting devices in or on a particular premises 12 served by a system 10have other lighting purposes, such as signage for an entrance or toindicate an exit. Of course, the lighting devices may be configured forstill other purposes, e.g. to benefit human or non-human organisms or torepel or even impair certain organisms or individuals. The actual sourcein each lighting device may be any type of light emitting unit.

In the examples, the intelligence and communications interface(s) and insome cases the sensors are shown as integrated with the other elementsof the lighting device or attached to the fixture or other element thatincorporates the light source. However, for some installations, thelight source may be attached in such a way that there is some separationbetween the fixture or other element that incorporates the electroniccomponents that provide the intelligence and communication capabilitiesand/or any associated sensor. For example, the communicationcomponent(s) and possibly the processor and memory (the ‘brain’) may beelements of a separate device or component coupled and/or collocatedwith the light source.

The example of system 10 utilizes intelligent lighting devices 11.Hence, each lighting device 11A or 11B has a light source 18A or 18B, aprocessor 21A or 21B, a memory 23A or 23B and a communication interfacesystem 24A or 24B. One or more lighting devices 11A may include a sensor15A.

Each communication interface system 24A or 24B includes a communicationinterface 25A or 25B configured to enable communication via a link tothe network 17 of the lighting system. As noted, system elements withina room or other service area are coupled via suitable links for networkdata communications to form physical sub-network portions, and furthercommunication links couple those physical sub-networks together into apremises wide data communication network 17. The local service areasub-networks may be relatively distinct from each other and distinctfrom but coupled to a wider area network but still within the premises12, or the sub-networks and premises wide media may be relativelyunified to form an overall data communication network as illustratedcollectively at 17. Various network media and protocols may be used forthe data communications. Although not separately shown, manyinstallations of the network 17 will include one or more routers, and atleast one router or other data communication device will serve as agateway and/or firewall for communications off-premises with a wide areanetwork (WAN) 61, such as an intranet or the public Internet. Howeverimplemented, the network 17 allows intelligent lighting system elementswithin respective service areas to communicate with each other and/orallows the elements within each of the service areas to communicate withelements in other service areas.

The communication interface 25A or 25B will correspond to the physical,electrical and signaling protocol requirements of the particulartechnology adopted for the data network 17 in the particular premises 12or area of the premises 12. For example, if the network is a wiredEthernet network, each interface 25A or 25B will include an appropriateEthernet cable connector as well as an Ethernet card to enable thelighting device 11A or 11B to communicate data in electrical Ethernetsignals and data protocols over the respective wired Ethernet link.

Some of the lighting devices 11B also support wireless communicationwith other devices (i.e. non-lighting-system devices) 19 at the premises12, although as discussed more below, one or more of the lightingcontrollers 13 and/or lighting related sensors 15 also may includewireless data communication capabilities.

Hence, in the example, each of the lighting devices 11B has acommunication interface system 24B configured both for datacommunications through the network 17 and for wireless datacommunications with other devices 19. The communication interface system24B may be a single interface configured for both types of communicationor may utilize multiple interfaces configured for the different types ofcommunication. In the example, the system 24B includes a firstcommunication interface 25B for data communication via the network 17 ofthe system 10, as discussed above. The communication interface system24B also includes a wireless communication interface 26B.

Although the interfaces 26B may utilize readily available standardizedwireless communication technologies, the wireless interfaces 26B as wellas compatible interfaces in devices 19 within the premises 12 willtypically operate at relatively low power. The wireless communicationinterfaces 26B may utilize any suitable available wireless technology,for example, WiFi or Bluetooth or Zigbee or pico or femto cell mobilewireless, etc. For discussion purposes, we will assume use of astandardized wireless communication technology, like one of theenumerated examples. Although the radio frequency or otherelectromagnetic signal communications over the air will conform to theapplicable standard, the power level(s) used in the examples is/are setwell below the maximum level(s) permitted under the applicable standard.As a result, the wireless coverage range provided by such otherwisestandard compliant wireless data transceivers in the interfaces 26B willtypically be shorter than normally achieved using standard compliantwireless equipment. Power level of wireless operation of the wirelesscommunication interface 26B and/or its effective range may be 15% orless, say 5-10%, of a normal level for a hotspot or wireless accesspoint or the like operating under the particular standard. If WiFi isused, as one example, if a typical WiFi wireless access point for ahotspot or the like might operate at a power level offering a typicalwireless data communication range of 100-150 feet, WiFi transceiversused in the interfaces 26B might operate at approximately 10% of thenormal operating power level so as to offer wireless data communicationover a range of approximately 10-15 feet.

Next we will discuss the UI device/lighting controller 13.

The UI devices 13 serving as the lighting controllers in this examplealso are implemented as smart/intelligent devices of the lightingsystem, with processing and communication capabilities. Hence, each UIdevice/lighting controller 13 includes a processor 31, a memory 33 and acommunication interface system 34, as well as one or more input and/oroutput elements 37 for physical user interaction as representedgenerally by user I/O element 37 in the drawing. The element 37, forexample, may include a toggle switch, a rotary controller, one or moresliders, a keypad and/or a touchscreen display. A touchscreen display,for example, may support touch and touch gesture input as well as visualdisplay output. Other examples of the UI input may include a video inputand associated processing for gestural control detection, a microphone,an occupancy/motion sensor, proximity sensor, etc. If provided, outputsmay be visual, audible, tactile, etc. For example, a microphone and/orspeaker may be used to support audible input and/or output, whereas acamera in combination with projector or display may be used to supportvisual input and/or output.

Although shown as a relatively integral arrangement, the communicationinterface system and possibly the processor and memory (the ‘brain’) maybe elements of a separate device or component coupled and/or collocatedwith the user I/O element 37, e.g. in a separate module connected to theuser I/O element 37.

Like the lighting devices 11, the UI devices 13 are connected to thenetwork 17 of the lighting system 10 for data communications, with othersystem elements in or near the respective services areas within thepremises 12 and possibly for communications with other elements ordevice at or outside the premises. Hence, the communication interfacesystem 34 in each UI device/lighting controller 13 includes acommunication interface 35 configured to enable communication via a linkto the network 17 of the lighting system (analogous to the interfaces25A and 25B in the lighting devices 11A and 11B). Although not shown, itmay be advantageous in providing desired wireless coverage in some roomsor other types of service areas for some (one or more) of the UIdevices/lighting controllers 13 to have wireless communicationinterfaces system 34 that include wireless communication interfacessimilar to the interfaces 26B.

Next we will discuss the various examples of sensors.

As outlined earlier, in the example of FIG. 1, any sensors included inthe system 10 also have or are associated with intelligence andcommunication capabilities. The sensor 15A is integrated into a lightingdevice 11A; and the processor, memory and communication interface ofthat device provide the intelligence and communication capabilitiesassociated with that sensor 15A. The sensor 15, however, is a standalonedevice and includes its own individual intelligence and communicationcapabilities.

The sensor 15 includes a physical condition detector (D) 41, which isthe actual device that is responsive to the particular condition to besensed. The detector 41 may receive a drive signal; and in response tothe sensed condition, the detector 41 produces a signal having acharacteristic (e.g. voltage magnitude) that is directly related to acharacteristic level of the sensed condition. The sensor 15 alsoincludes a detector interface circuit (Int.) 43. The circuit 43 providesany drive signal that may be needed by the particular device type ofphysical condition detector 41. The detector interface circuit 43 alsoprocesses the output signal or signals from the detector 41 to produce acorresponding output, in a standardized data format, for use by theassociated intelligence. The integrated sensor 15A in lighting device11A may be implemented by a detector and interface circuit analogous tothe physical condition detector 41 and the detector interface circuit43.

The standalone implementation of a sensor 15 also includes a processor45 and an associated memory 47. The sensor 15 also includes acommunication interface system 48. Although shown as a relativelyintegral arrangement, the communication interface system 48 and possiblythe processor 45 and the memory 47 (the ‘brain’) may be elements of aseparate device or component coupled and/or collocated with the detector41 and/or the detector interface circuit 43, e.g. in a separate moduleconnected to the interface circuit 43 or with the interface circuitry 43in a separate module connected to the detector 41.

Like the lighting devices 11 and the UI devices 13, the standalonesensors 15 are connected to the network 17 of the lighting system 10 fordata communications, with other system elements in or near therespective services areas within the premises 12 and possibly forcommunications with other elements or device at or outside the premises.Hence, the communication interface system 48 in each sensor 15 includesa communication interface 49 configured to enable communication via alink to the network 17 of the lighting system (analogous to theinterfaces 25A and 25B in the lighting devices 11A and 11B). Althoughnot shown, it may be advantageous in providing desired wireless coveragein some rooms or other types of service areas for some (one or more) ofthe sensors 15 to have wireless communication interfaces system 48 thatinclude wireless communication interfaces similar to the interfaces 26B.

The examples show one communication interface in each intelligentlighting system element 11, 13 and 15 for communication with theon-premises data network 17 and, if provided, one wireless communicationinterface for supporting wireless data communications of other devices19 in proximity. Although not shown for convenience, there may bemultiple communication interfaces for data communication over multiplemedia in any one system element (e.g. local area network over wired oroptical Ethernet or DMX etc. for on-premises network communications and,where included, wireless interfaces for one or more of pico or femtocell, WiFi, Bluetooth or Zigbee, etc.). In many installations, forconvenience, cost, maintenance reasons or the like, for example, thewireless communication interfaces provided in various intelligentlighting system elements will support only one type of wirelesscommunication. However, where deemed cost effective (e.g. in someenterprise installations) it may be desirable for at least some elementsto support two or more of the different types of wireless communicationswith other devices 19.

Even in one room, different elements may provide wireless coverage fordifferent zones within the room. For example, a low power coverage via awireless communication interface in a first lighting device may cover asmall area of the room, a low power coverage via a wirelesscommunication interface in a another lighting device may cover a smallarea of the room adjacent the coverage by the first fixture, and so on,so as to provide coverage areas much like small cells around each of thelighting devices (that have the wireless capability) and thereby cover asubstantial portion or all of the area of the particular room. The sizeand/or shape of adjacent coverage areas may or may not be similar. Otherservice areas in the premises may be covered for wireless communicationin a similar manner.

As the intelligent lighting system elements provide smaller and smallercoverage zones or cells (based on lower wireless power settings), eachelement with a wireless transceiver type interface still can providewireless communication to serve some number of other devices 19 withinrange. As a corollary, the other devices 19 can operate at lower powerlevels, for example, to reduce interference while large numbers operatewithin the area or the premises 12 and/or to allow the other devices toincorporate more cost effective wireless transceivers.

The system 10, for example, may provide one, two or more intelligentlighting system elements 11,13 and/or 15 in each service area of thepremises 12 that are configured to provide the relatively short range,low power wireless data communication links for use by othernon-lighting-system devices 19. For example, it is envisioned that manyif not all of the lighting devices 11, particularly those implemented asinstalled light fixtures, may have interface systems 24B configured tosupport the low power wireless data communication for other devices 19.Some or all of any moveable lighting devices that are operated at thepremises 12, e.g. table or floor lamps or the like, may also haveinterface systems 24B configured to support the low power wireless datacommunication for other devices 19. Alternatively, a moveable lightingdevice may be configured to use the wireless link to communicate withanother system element and through that element with the network 17.

Fixed or moveable user interface devices 13 or sensors 15 may or may notbe configured to support wireless data communication access for otherdevices 19. For example, a fixed installation of a user interface device13 or sensor 15 may have a communication interface similar to 24B toprovide a link to the network 17 for wireless communication access byother devices. A moveable device 13 or 15 could be similarly configured,however, it may be preferable to configure such a moveable device 13 or15 with a wireless interface more like 55 that accesses the systemnetwork 17 via a light fixture or the like using a wireless link.

As the density of wireless communication capable system elements 11,13and/or 15 in the premises 12 or an area thereof increase, the powerlevels of the wireless communication interfaces 26B can be set lower toavoid undue interference. However, the numerous smaller areas ofwireless coverage provided by such wireless capable elements may stillprovide ample wireless coverage for useful numbers of other devices 19within an area or within the premises as a whole.

Some of the intelligent system elements, e.g. lighting devices 11, UIdevices 13 or sensors 15, may have or be enhanced with audio or videoinput or output equipment. A sensor, for example, may include a cameraand/or a microphone as the detector(s). A UI device 13 may include adisplay for output and may include a camera for user input, alone or incombination with other user input elements. For example, a UI devicearrangement might utilize a touchscreen alone or in combination with acamera. Alternatively, a UI device may utilize a microphone for audioinput alone or in combination with a speaker for audio output to theuser. Audio and/or video sensing as well as audio and/or video outputcapabilities also may be incorporated into enchanted lighting devices.Such a lighting device 11, for example, might have or connect to aspeaker and a projector to provide audio-visual information output. Amicrophone and/or camera in an enhanced lighting device might providearea monitoring and/or additional form(s) of user input to the systemfor lighting or other purposes.

Although not shown, each of the system elements that uses power tooperate as described may include a power supply circuit and will connectto or possibly contain a power source. The lighting devices 11A and 11Bmay draw power from an AC grid or from a DC grid. The lighting devices11A and 11B, for example, may draw power from alternating current (AC)mains in the building or other type of premises where the system 10 maybe installed. In an AC grid type example, the power supply circuit of aparticular lighting device 11A or 11B will include a light source drivercircuit to process power drawn from the AC mains in any manner as may beappropriate to drive the particular type of light source incorporated inthe particular lighting device. The source driver may be a simple switchcontrolled by the processor, for example, if the source is anincandescent bulb or the like that can be driven directly from the ACcurrent. As another example, the drive circuit may convert AC power toone or more appropriate DC voltage and/or current levels to providepower to DC driven light source(s) such as light emitting diodes (LEDs).The power supply would also process AC power from the mains to providevoltage and/or current levels to power the elements (e.g. processor,memory and interface) serving as the device intelligence and for thecommunication interface.

In the example, the power supply circuit for each lighting devicereceives electricity from AC mains, however, one or more of the lightingdevices for each service area may be driven by a battery or other powersource for a particular application. For example, one or more lightingdevices in each room and one or more lighting devices in a corridor eachmay have or connect to a back-up battery or other back-up power sourceto supply power for some period of time in the event of an interruptionof power from the AC mains.

Other system elements in each service area, such as lighting controllersor other user interface devices 13 and/or any standalone sensors 15would likewise include appropriate power supply circuits, which may relyon AC or DC power from the mains, battery power and/or ambient powerharvesting, etc., as needed to operate the components of each respectivesystem element. Examples of ambient power harvesting include vibrationresponsive power generation, photovoltaics, mechanical work (e.g.EnOcean), etc.

As shown by the description of the system 10 above, the system 10provides lighting services in areas of the premises 10 and provideswireless communications for other devices 19 at the premises.Essentially, the system 10 with its wireless communication capabilitiesand its data network 17 becomes the backbone or hub for datacommunications for the other devices 19 within the premises.

In this way, the intelligent lighting system elements provide datanetwork access for other non-lighting-system devices 19 in the premises12, typically, via wireless links. The lighting system/network 10enables such devices 19 to communicate with other devices 19 within thepremises as well as devices/systems outside the premises 12. Data fromdevices 19 in the premises 12 becomes available to affiliatedequipment/entities outside the premises, and/or such equipment/entitiesoutside the premises may be allowed access to control the other devices19 within the premises 12. In many cases, the wireless capableintelligent lighting system elements and the network 17 largely serve asa conduit for data communications of the other devices 19 withoff-premises equipment/entities. However, in at least some instances,one or more of the intelligent lighting system elements may communicatewith and interact with one or more of the other devices 19, for example,to enable initial set-up of other devices for communications via thesystem 10 or possibly to provide some services in support of operationsof at least some types of other devices 19.

It may be helpful to discuss examples of the other devices 19 that maybenefit for communications via/with the network-of-networks thus formedby the lighting system 10. By way of example, FIG. 1 also depicts ablock diagram of the functional elements of another (non-lightingrelated) device 19 that may utilize the communication capabilities ofthe system 10 and become part of the network-of-networks, at thepremises 12.

The other non-lighting-system devices 19 are non-system devices in thatthey are not commissioned or otherwise configured to operate as elementsof the lighting system 10 for regular lighting related functions and/orlighting system related communications (e.g. not for communications withthe outside equipment of a company servicing the lighting systemitself). For example, such other devices typically are manufactured,sold and/or maintained by one or more parties different from thoseinvolved in the manufacture, sale, installation, and service or othermaintenance of the elements and network forming the system 10. Many ofthe other devices 19 are non-lighting devices in that the principalfunctions thereof are for purposes other than lighting at the premises12. Some of the non-system devices 19, however, may be lighting devicesthat operate in some manner more independent of the lighting functionsof the system 10 than the lighting devices 11, e.g. a table or floorlamp that is not configured as an integral element of the system 10typically provided from a different vendor that the elements of thesystem 10. As another example, some of the non-system devices 19 mayhave some ancillary lighting emission or sensing function (e.g. toprovide light on the exterior of a refrigerator upon sensing that a userhas operated the ice maker or a control panel on the exterior and/or toprovide light inside the refrigerator upon sensing that a user hasopened the door).

The other devices 19 that will utilize communication via the system 10are intelligent devices in that each device 19 includes a processor 51and a memory 53. The ‘brain’ of such a device will be coupled to andcontrol appropriate device electronics 59. The electronics and theprogramming run by the processor 51 to control operation of eachparticular device 19 will depend on the particular type of deviceproduct.

The devices 19 may be virtually any type of device, typically notdirectly related to lighting system operation, which may utilize datacommunications, in this case, via the elements and network of the system10. By way of just a few examples, the other devices may be componentsof a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, any ofvarious appliances found in modern homes or businesses, water controls(e.g. electrically controlled valves or faucets), other sensors, audioor video gear, etc. The device electronics and programming of each suchdevice 19 thus will correspond to the different type of device.

Although a device 19 may have other means of communication (not shown),each of the other devices 19 that will communicate with or through thesystem 10 also includes at least one wireless (W) communicationinterface 55 that is compatible with the wireless communicationcapability offered by the particular installation of the lighting systemat the premises 12. Like the interfaces 26B discussed earlier, thewireless (W) communication interface 55 may utilize readily availablestandardized wireless communication technologies, and the wirelesscommunication interfaces 55 within the premises 12 will typicallyoperate at relatively low power. The wireless communication interfaces55 may utilize any suitable available wireless technology, for example,WiFi or Bluetooth or Zigbee or femto or pico cell mobile wireless, etc.For discussion purposes, we again assume use of a standardized wirelesscommunication technology, like one of the enumerated examples.

Although the radio frequency or other electromagnetic signalcommunications over the air will conform to the applicable standard, thepower level(s) used in the examples is/are set well below the maximumlevel(s) permitted under the applicable standard. As a result, thetypical ranges over which the transceivers of interfaces 55 may be ableto communicate will typically be shorter than normally achieved usingotherwise standard compliant wireless terminal device equipment. As acomplement to operation of the wireless interface 26B, power level ofwireless operation of the wireless communication interface 55 in each ofthe devices 19 and/or its effective range may be 15% or less, say 5-10%,of a normal for a wireless device (e.g. wireless adapter or the like)operating under the particular standard. If WiFi is used, as oneexample, if a typical WiFi wireless adapter or the like might operate atpower levels offering a typical wireless data communication range of100-150 feet, WiFi transceivers used in the interfaces 55 might operateat approximately 10% of the normal operating power level so as to offerwireless data communication over a range of approximately 10-15 feet.

Continuing with the WiFi type implementation, as one example, thewireless communication interface 55 may take the form of an airinterface card or the like configured to operate as a WiFi adapter.However, the actual transmitter and receiver included in the interfacecard would at least be set-up to operate at low power corresponding tothe low power communications of the matching interfaces in the lightingsystem elements. In many cases, the manufacturers of the other devices19 may design their devices to include only low power implementations ofthe transmitter and receiver, e.g. as a cost saving measure and/or toconserve power required to operate respective types of devices 19.

A device 19 may include one or more input and/or output (I/O) elements57 for a user interface. The user I/O element 57, for example, mayinclude a toggle switch, a rotary controller, one or more sliders, akeypad and/or a touchscreen display. The precise user I/O element, ifprovided, depends on the operational characteristics of the particularother device 19. For example, for an HVAC controller, the user I/Oelement(s) 57 might be similar to those of a digital thermostat. Atouchscreen display, as another example, may support touch and touchgesture input as well as visual display output. A faucet might havesimple manual controls to turn ON/Off and adjust the flow of water. Ahair dryer might have an ON/OFF switch and heat and/or airflow ratelevel-setting switch(es). Other examples of the UI input may include avideo input and associated processing for gestural control detection, amicrophone, an occupancy/motion sensor, proximity sensor, etc. Ifprovided, outputs may be visual, audible, tactile, etc. For example, amicrophone and/or speaker may be used to support audible input and/oroutput, whereas a camera in combination with projector or display may beused to support visual input and/or output.

As outlined above, each of the lighting system elements 11, 13, 15includes a communication interface system 24A, 24B, 34, 48; and eachsuch interface system includes a data communication interface 25A, 25B,35, 49 configured to enable communication via a link to the network 17of the lighting system 10 at the premises 12. A number of the lightingsystem elements 11, 13 or 15 also support wireless communications forother devices 19 at the premises 12, enabling such other devices accessto the data network 17. The other devices 19 in turn include wirelesscommunication interfaces 55 corresponding to the wireless communicationinterfaces in the wireless capable intelligent lighting system elements.

The communication network 17 allows system elements 11, 13, 15 withinthe premises 12 to communicate with each other and communicate via thewide area network WAN 61, so as to communicate with other devicesgenerally represented by way of example by the server/host computer 63and the user terminal device 65. The network 17 and the wirelesscommunication access to the network 17 provided by the system 10 alsoallows other devices 19 to communicate via the wide area network (WAN)61, so as to communicate with outside devices such as the server/hostcomputer 63 and the user terminal device 65 (although the outsidedevices may be different from those witch which the lighting systemelements 11, 13, 15 typically communicate).

A host computer or server like 63 can be any suitable network-connectedcomputer, tablet, mobile device or the like programmed to implementdesired network-side functionalities. Such a device may have anyappropriate data communication interface to link to the WAN 61.Alternatively or in addition, a host computer or server similar to 63may be operated at the premises 12 and utilize the same networking mediathat implements data network 17.

The user terminal equipment such as that shown at 65 may be implementedwith any suitable processing device that can communicate and offer asuitable user interface. The terminal 65, for example, is shown as adesktop computer with a wired link into the WAN 61. However, otherterminal types, such as laptop or notebook computers, tablet computers,ultrabook computers, netbook computers, and smartphones, may serve asthe user terminal computers. Also, although shown as communicating via awired link from the WAN 61, such a device may also or alternatively usewireless or optical media; and such a device may be operated at thepremises 12 and utilize the same networking media that implements datanetwork 17.

For various reasons, the communications capabilities provided at thepremises 12 may also support communications of the lighting systemelements with user terminal devices and/or computers within thepremises. The user terminal devices and/or computers within the premisesmay use communications interfaces and communications protocols of anytype(s) compatible with the on-premises networking technology of thesystem 10. Such communication with a user terminal, for example, mayallow a person in one part of the premises 12 to communicate with asystem element 11, 13, 15 in another area of the premises 12, to obtaindata therefrom and/or to control lighting or other system operations inthe other area.

The external elements, represented generally by the server/host computer63 and the user terminal device 65, which may communicate with thesystem elements at the premises, may be used by various entities and/orfor various purposes in relation to operation of the lighting system 10.Alternatively or in addition, the external elements, representedgenerally by the server/host computer 63 and the user terminal device65, which may communicate with one or more of the other devices 19 atthe premises, may be used by various entities and/or for variouspurposes appropriate to the various different types of other devices 19that may be located and operating at the particular premises 12.

As shown by the discussion of FIG. 1, more and more elements in thehome, office or factory have some processing capability, and somecommunication capability. In the specifically illustrated example ofsystem 10, such devices 19 communicate over wireless links to lightingdevices 11A (and possibly others of the intelligent lighting systemelements); and via the wireless capable lighting devices 11A, the otherdevices 19 communicate via the network 17 that services the lightingsystem elements with external network 61 and with other devices/systems63, 65 outside the premises. The lighting device 11A (or other wirelesscapable element of system 10) becomes the portal or communication portfor other non-lighting-system devices 19 with appropriate communicationcapability. Various lighting equipment and other ‘things’ within thehome become parts of the network implemented by the lighting system 10,to access information from the devices in the home and/or to controlsuch devices. Other devices 19 in the home may become user interfacesfor lighting or HVAC control purposes. For example, a refrigerator witha touchscreen may support use of the touchscreen to control light, HVACand other appliance at any location within the premises usingcommunications of the refrigerator via the lighting network.

In some installations, either in a room or throughout a premises 12, allof the lighting devices will include a communication interface thatsupports the low-power wireless communications for other devices 19.However, it is also envisioned that in some installations, some lightingdevices 11B will include a communication interface that supports thelow-power wireless communications for other devices 19, which otherlighting devices 11A will not. As noted, it may also be desirable insome locations or premise to include a wireless communication interfacein one or more of the UI devices/controllers 13 and/or in one or more ofthe standalone sensors. 15. Furthermore, in any intelligent lightingsystem element 11, 13 or 15 that does support wireless communication,there may be one interface for one type or standard of wirelesscommunication, or there may be one or more wireless communicationinterfaces configured to support two or more types/standards. Forexample, one element may support wireless communication in two or moredistinct/noninterfering frequency bands. As another example, one elementmay support WiFi and either or both of Bluetooth and Zigbee.

FIG. 2 is an alternate diagram of the system 10, with a higher levelillustration of the system 10 and other devices 19 at the premises 12but also showing logical organizations and examples of varioussystems/entities outside the premises 12 that may be involved incommunication with lighting system elements and other devices 19 at thepremises 12. It should be noted also that, although FIG. 1 depicted asystem 10 of a single premises, in practice there may be similar systemsinstalled any number of premises at diverse locations, as will bediscussed further as part of the description relative to FIG. 2.

For discussion purposes, some of the drawings and some of thisdescription refer to third (3^(rd)) and fourth (4^(th)) parties. Thisnomenclature distinguishes other parties from the party or parties thatinstall and maintain the lighting system as well as the party or partiesowning, operating or occupying the premises 12. In FIG. 2, examples ofthird parties would be various enterprises that manufacturer install ormaintain appliances, sensors and other devices at the premises. As willbe discussed, these parties may also operate various external equipmentthat communicates with their devices at the premises 12, for example toreceive sensor data, to monitor operations for their devices 19, toprovide maintenance services relative to their devices 19, etc. Fourthparties are other entities (enterprises or individuals) who may have atleast some more indirect interest in the premises 12 or the system 10 orthe other devices 19 installed at the premises. For example, some suchfourth parties may have an interest in sensor or equipment monitoringdata from any number of premises like 12, or these other entities orparties may have some interest in occasional control of equipment atvarious different premises 12.

For convenience, FIG. 2 shows two specific categories of other devices19. One category of other devices 19 a represents appliances sold and/orinstalled by third parties. Examples of third-party appliances 19 a thatmight be installed at a residential type premises 12 include a washer, astove or oven, a toaster, etc. The appliances 19 a are referred to asthird party appliances here because many such appliances may be offeredfor sale and serviced or maintained by one or more parties other thanthe enterprise(s) that sell and service the lighting devices and otherlighting system elements.

The other category example 19 s represents third-party sensors. In theexample of FIG. 2, the owner or operator or the like of premises 12 hasalso installed one or more sensors 19 s for sensing conditions that thelighting system 10 in the example need not necessarily use in itsregular lighting-related operations. Examples of third-party sensors 19s that might be installed at a residential type premises 12 include afire, smoke or CO2 sensor, a flood sensor, a vibration sensor forseismic detection or the like, etc. The sensors 19 s are referred to asthird party sensors here because many such sensors may be offered forsale and serviced or maintained by one or more parties other than theenterprise(s) that sell and service the lighting devices and otherlighting system elements.

Sensors and appliances represent just two classes or categories of otherdevices 19 or equipment at a premises 12 that may communicate via thelighting network 17 and/or interact with the intelligent elements of thelighting system at the premises. Obviously, there may be any number ofother types of other devices or equipment at a premises 12 that maycommunicate via the lighting network 17 as shown collectively at 19 o.Again, the devices 19 o are referred to as third party devices herebecause they typically will be offered for sale and serviced ormaintained by one or more parties other than the enterprise(s) that selland service the lighting devices and other lighting system elements.

FIG. 2 also generally shows the lighting system 10. In this context, thesystem 10 includes all of the intelligent lighting system elements 11,13, 15 and the data network 17 discussed above relative to FIG. 1. Also,the other devices 19 a, 19 o and 19 s communicate with and through thelighting system 10, as outlined above relative to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 alsoshows the WAN 61 and the connection thereof to the lighting system 10.This arrangement allows the lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 and theother devices 19 to communicate with any of a wide range of othersystems or terminal devices outside of the particular premises 12. Aswill be discussed more later, this allows the lighting system 10 tocommunicate with other lighting networks or systems as shown at 79 inFIG. 2.

The intelligent lighting system elements, such as elements 11, 13, 15 inFIG. 1 may communicate with equipment outside the premises for a varietyof purposes. For example, such elements may communicate with serverequipment or user terminal equipment, to allow the owner or occupants ofthe premises to remotely monitor and/or control lighting in the premises12. As another example, the intelligent lighting system elements maycommunicate with server equipment or user terminal equipment of thevendor(s) of those elements or another enterprise having a contract forservice or maintenance of the lighting system at the premises 12.

As noted in the discussion of FIG. 1 above, the wireless interfaces 26B(and any similar interfaces if provided in UI devices 13 or in sensors15) as well as compatible interfaces in devices 19 within the premises12 will typically operate at relatively low power. However, becausethere are sufficient wireless access nodes provided by the lightingsystem elements throughout at least some areas of the premises, there issufficient coverage throughout a substantial portion and possibly all ofthe premises 12 to allow other devices 19 in the various areas of thepremises to communicate through the those lighting system elements andthe backbone data network 17 of the lighting system. Processors in thoseelements of the system 10 that support such wireless communications areconfigured to control communications of other devices 19 to provideaccess to the data network 17 and through the data network 17 to the WAN61 outside the premises for non-lighting related communications of theother devices. Hence, in addition to communications of outside entitieswith the lighting system elements at the premises 12, the lightingsystem 10 supports similar communications for various other entitieshaving a need or desire to communicate with third party equipment 19 a,19 o or 19 s at the premises 12. More specifically in our example, theillustrated arrangement of FIG. 2 also allows the other devices 19 andin some cases the lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 to communicatewith equipment of a variety of other third (3^(rd)) and fourth (4^(th))parties.

For example, the lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 as well as at leastsome of the other devices 19 may communicate with a building control orprocess server shown at 71 in FIG. 2. Such a building control server 71may operate as a service bureau to provide overall building control formany of the automated systems and devices at premises 12 (and possiblyat other customers' similar equipped premises). The communications herebetween the building control server 71 and the lighting system elements,for example, allow the server 71 to monitor and in some cases controloperations of lighting devices 11 within the premises 12. The server 71may also be able to obtain data from some or all of the lighting-relatedsensors 15A. In a similar fashion, the server 71 may also be able toobtain data from some or all of the third-party sensors 19 s, forexample with respect to operation of heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) equipment at the premises 12. In turn, such abuilding control server 71 may be able to communicate with and controlthe HVAC equipment at the premises 12 and/or some appliances 19 a at thepremises 12.

The building control process/server 71 in the illustrated example isoutside the premises; although the server 71 may be operated logicallyor physically form within the premises 12, depending on the entitiesoperating the server and/or those using the functionalities supported bythe server. For example, one enterprise might offer building control asa contracted service bureau type service using external servers 71, asoutlined above. Conversely, a home owner or an enterprise operating atthe premises 12 may instead prefer its own internal building control inwhich case the server may be on the premises 12 either on a standaloneplatform or implemented as a distributed processing function on two ormore of the intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 at theparticular premises 12.

Although referred to as third or fourth party communication, theexternal communication access offered by the system 10 and the WAN 61may also allow a user in the home or in an enterprise type of premises12 to interact with and/or control devices in the home, e.g. to run anapp on a cell phone to monitor and control lighting and/or other devicesin the premises from within the premises or remotely (either directly orvia an intermediate server such as the server 71.

The example of FIG. 2 also includes outside equipment of one or moresensor companies as shown at 73. The equipment 73 of a sensor companymay take the form of a server alone or in combination with one or moreuser terminal device(s) for personnel of that enterprise. As notedearlier, any number of sensors 19 s may be installed and/or monitored bythird parties. For example, a security monitoring company might operateequipment 73 to monitor fire, smoke, gas (e.g. CO2 or natural gasleakage) and unauthorized entry sensors at the premises, using thenetwork 61 and the data communication functions offered by the lightingsystem 10. Various communication models (e.g. polling type ‘pull’ datacommunication, periodic reporting or event responsive reporting) may beused to allow the equipment 73 to collect data from any or all of thesensor(s) 19 s monitored by the particular sensor enterprise. Theequipment 73 may make the sensor data available to personnel of thatenterprise for various enterprise purposes. Alternatively or inaddition, the equipment 73 may trigger responsive action, e.g. dispatchpersonnel to respond to an undesired condition or initiate a report topublic emergency response personnel.

The example of FIG. 2 also includes outside equipment of one or moreappliance companies as shown at 77. The equipment 77 of an appliancecompany may take the form of a server alone or in combination with oneor more user terminal device(s) for personnel of that enterprise. When a3^(rd) party device 19 a comes on line, for example, the device canauto-register with the manufacturer or service company. Such devices canreport operations to the company equipment 77, e.g. for company use formaintenance or service purposes. However, data from the other devices 19a is also available to the relevant enterprises for other purposes, e.g.to allow the manufacturer to learn what features of and/or exactly howits products are used by its customers for use in designing upgradesand/or new more advanced products.

As noted earlier, any number of appliances 19 a may be installed and/ormonitored by third parties. For example, a washer and dryer by aparticular manufacturer may be monitored for warranty and servicepurposes by the manufacturer or another entity under contract to themanufacturer or the premises occupant (e.g. as arranged through anintermediate vendor). A stove/oven, a toaster, etc. by othermanufacturers may be monitored for similar purposes by the same or otherenterprises. Again, various communication models (e.g. polling type‘pull’ data communication, periodic reporting or event responsivereporting) may be used to allow the equipment 77 to collect data fromany or all of the appliances 19 a monitored by the particular applianceenterprise. The equipment 77 may make the appliance data available topersonnel of that enterprise for various enterprise purposes, e.g. toprovide data that can be analyzed as an indication of customer usage ofeach monitored appliance and/or as an indication of operationalcondition thereof over time and/or over extended usage. Alternatively orin addition, the equipment 73 may trigger responsive action, e.g.dispatch personnel to service an appliance that has failed in somemanner or is predicted to fail in the near future. The equipment 77 ofthe appliance company may also be able to send messages to the relevantappliances 19 a for various purposes, for example, to update data orprogram instructions in an appliance as a form of service repair orupgrade, or to control an operation of the appliance (e.g. to shut offan appliance that may be malfunctioning in some way).

The example of FIG. 2 also includes outside equipment of one or moreother (4^(th)) parties, as shown at 75. Depending on the entity and therelationship(s) with the various parties involved at or withmonitoring/servicing the lighting system 10 and the other devices 19,the equipment may communicate with the intelligent lighting systemelements 11, 13, 15 and/or with applicants 19 a, sensors 19 s or other3^(rd) party devices 19 o. Again, various communication models may beused to collect information from various equipment at the premises 12.

A utility, such as an electric company supplying power to the premises,may use such equipment 75 and network communications to collect powerusage data from the lighting system 10 and from other devices 19 at thepremises 12, e.g. to provide a more granular view as to actualconsumption at the premises 12 and any number of other similarlyequipped premises. When appropriate, e.g. at a time of excessive demandin a geographic area encompassing the premises 12, the utility mightcontrol some elements or devices at the premises to reduce consumption.Of course, a utility may implement other forms of control, e.g. to shiftsome high-power consuming operations to off-peak times. Theowner/occupant of the premises, in turn, may receive a lower power ratein exchange for agreeing to at least some such control by the utility.As another example of power company interaction, the lighting systemelements and/or the other devices at the premise 12 may allow monitorsignals on the power line report whether any equipment is causingtransients that may reduce efficiency to equipment 75 of a powercompany, for corrective control or other maintenance purposes.

Some government agencies may also have an interest in collecting datafrom and/or controlling some of the other devices 19 and variouspremises like 12. For example, where a sensor company might collectvibration data for analysis of machinery operating at the premises 12, agovernment geological agency might collect vibration data from the sameor others of the sensors 19 s as a way to detect and analyze seismicactivity. Seismic data from a number of premises in a major geographicregion (e.g. a metropolitan area) might thereby provide insight into thebreadth of an earthquake and the distribution pattern of various levelsof quake intensity across the geographic region over the time period ofa seismic event. In a similar fashion, a weather agency (or a separatecontractor) might collect data from sensors of various types formingweather stations at a number of premises like 12 across a geographicregion. In the event of an emergency, occupancy sensors might provideresponsive government personnel with information about whichrooms/buildings are occupied.

External lighting networks 79 are similar to networked system 10 albeitlocated at other premises, for example, as manufactured, installedand/or maintained by the entity or entities that manufactured, installedand/or maintain the system 10 at premises 12. The other networks/systems79 may be at premises of the same entity that owns, operates or occupiesthe particular premises 12 or at premises of one or more other entities.External lighting networks 79 in the example, however, are also meant toencompass networks/systems of the vendor or other lightingservice/maintenance entity. In an example in which one or more externallighting networks 79 are system/networks similar to system 10 of FIG. 1but at other premises, communication with such other similar networks 79may be desirable to an enterprise that owns or operates at the otherpremises as well as the premises 12. However, the external lightingnetworks may be other networks installed or serviced by the sameenterprise entity as the system at premises 12 but occupied by differententities. In either case, communications via the network 61 enable theon premises system 10 and such external networks to interact andcooperate in operational data sharing and service/maintenance functions.Server and/or user terminal devices for technicians of an installationand/or service entity may be included in or communicate via one of thenetworks represented by the external network 79 in our example, althoughsuch server or terminal devices may utilize other communicationsnetworks for data access to the WAN 61.

These are but a few examples of how 3^(rd) or 4^(th) parties mightcollect and use data from premises that have an installation of alighting system 10 and other devices 19 that communicate through thatsystem and the WAN 61. As the variety of other devices 19 expands,deployment thereof becomes increasingly persuasive, and the variety ofoutside users communicating with such devices for multi-variant purposesalso expands, the on-premises system elements and other devices togetherwith the outside equipment form a veritable Internet-of-things albeitcentered around the lighting system 10 and the elements of that system10.

FIG. 3 shows a simple layout of a residential building or a portion ofsuch a building with a network system of lighting devices and relatedequipment installed therein, similar to the system 10 discussed aboverelative to FIGS. 1 and 2. For purposes of illustration and discussionhere, the building includes three rooms along one long corridor.However, it should be readily apparent that the system under discussionhere can be easily adapted to indoor installations with fewer or morerooms, more corridors, multiple floors, multiple buildings or to outdoorinstallations alone or in combination with in-building installations.

This layout drawing is intended to illustrate aspects of examples of thephysical networking of lighting, communication and other elements of asystem and other devices that communicate via that system, as may bedeployed in a residence in this example. The layout diagram alsoillustrates some logical relationships for other devices on thepremises, although different logical relationships will be discussedlater, particularly with respect to FIG. 4.

The intelligent lighting devices used in a building installation likethat of FIG. 3 may be any desirable type of luminaire (L). The termluminaire encompasses lighting fixtures as well as lamps that may not beinstalled in a fixed manner (e.g. floor or table lamps). In our exampleof FIG. 3, for convenience, the lighting devices take the form oflighting fixtures, and we will assume that all of the lighting fixturessupport wireless communication for other devices in the vicinity similarto the lighting devices 11B discussed above relative to FIG. 1.

In the layout example, a number of the illustrated elements/devices arerepresented by block symbols with descriptive acronyms. For example, arectangle with a shaded section in the upper right corner represents alighting fixture with one or more enhanced capabilities, or “enhancedfixture” (EF). Examples of enhanced capabilities may include increasedmemory, faster processor, a user interface component (e.g. gesturalcontrol sensor, microphone/speaker, video camera/projector, informationdisplay, etc.) and/or an integrated sensor for sensing a condition inrelation to a lighting function or a condition for some other purposenot directly related to lighting or lighting control. Light fixtureswithout any such enhancement are represented in FIG. 3 by a circle LF.

The simple example of a residential premises includes a living room, akitchen, a bathroom and a corridor. All of the intelligent lightingsystem elements in the rooms or corridors of the premises, coupledtogether into the lighting system and network, have at least somecommunication capability. For example, some number of such devicescommunicate with each other via local physical communication links. Someof the system elements may serve as a hub for communication with some orall of the other devices. In this way, the elements in each room or areatogether communicate via a sub-network in the room or area. The lightfixtures (LF), user interface device(s) and/or standalone sensors (notshown) in the living room together form or connect to a living roomnetwork 17 l. Similarly, the light fixtures (LF), user interfacedevice(s) and/or standalone sensors (not shown) in the kitchen togetherform or connect to a kitchen network 17 k; and the light fixtures (LF),user interface device(s) and/or standalone sensors (not shown) in thebathroom together form or connect to a living room network 17 b for thebathroom. The enhanced fixture (EF), light fixtures (LF), user interfacedevice(s) and/or standalone sensors (not shown) in the corridorsimilarly together form or connect to a living room network 17 b for thecorridor. A house network 17 h may include additional links and/ornetwork gear (e.g. router, gateway, firewall, or the like) to couple thesub-networks 17 b, 17 c, 17 k, 17 l together into one overall networkfor the premises similar to the network 17 discussed above relative toFIG. 1. For example, the communication media and interfaces in thevarious intelligent lighting system elements at the premises maytogether form a local area network (LAN), with portions thereof in therooms and corridor. Any suitable LAN media may be used, such as powerlines wiring, separate wiring such as coax or Ethernet cable, opticalfiber or wireless (e.g. pico/femto cell, Zigbee, Bluetooth or WiFi).Some or all of the network communication media may be used by or madeavailable for communications of other gear, equipment or systems withinthe premises. In particular, the wireless communication capabilityoffered by the light fixtures EF and LF provide wireless data access tothe networks 17 b-17 l at the premises for various types of othernon-lighting-system devices. The network 17 h also provides datacommunication access to the WAN 61.

By way of just a few examples of other devices utilizing the networking,as shown in FIG. 3, in the kitchen, appliances such as the stove, therefrigerator (Fridge) and the toaster utilize the wireless access tocommunicate via the kitchen network 17 k. An electronically controlledfaucet and/or any water flow or temperature sensors incorporated into orlocated at the sink may also utilize the wireless access to communicatevia the kitchen network 17 k. In a similar fashion, an electronicallycontrolled faucet and/or any water flow or temperature sensorsincorporated into or located at the vanity in the bathroom, as well assimilar devices incorporated into or located at the bathtub and/orshower, may also utilize the wireless access to communicate via thebathroom network 17 b. An appliance such as a hairdryer may incorporatea processor, memory and wireless communication interface to allow thatdevice to utilize the wireless access to communicate via the bathroomnetwork 17 b. In the living room in our example, the television (TV) andone or more pieces of audio gear (identified generally as the Stereo)utilize the wireless access to communicate via the living room network17 l.

Briefly, in some rooms or the corridor in our example, one or more ofthe fixtures, luminaires, user interfaces, or standalone sensors in aparticular lighting system service area may provide communicationsoutside of the room or service area (to 17 h in the drawing). Selectionof the system element in an area that will provide the networkconnectivity into the LAN or the like may be based on selection criteriaas part of a commissioning of the equipment in a particular servicearea. For example, if only one element in a room or the like has theactual connectivity, that element is chosen manually or chosenautomatically by the other devices to provide the routing function.However, if two or more elements have the capability, one may beinitially selected (for any appropriate reason), but then the otherelement takes over the routing function, for example, in the event thatthe first element may later fail, or be overloaded, busy, etc., or ifthe communication to/through the other element is better at a particularlater time.

Alternatively, the system equipment in a particular room or otherservice area may include a gateway (Gw) hub (not shown for simplicity).Such a gateway hub in this later type of example is a device thatprovides communications capabilities and is not itself configured as adevice of one of the other types. A gateway hub may supportcommunications capabilities to and from some or all of the other deviceswithin the room or other service area. In some examples, one of theother elements in the room or service area may support the communicationoutside the room or other service area. In other arrangements, the hubgateway provides the external network communications capabilities,although in some cases it does support the local intra devicecommunications whereas in other examples the hub gateway does notsupport the local intra device communications. A gateway hub might alsosupport other, non-lighting capabilities (e.g. memory, processing power,etc.).

The LAN/WAN combination of FIG. 3 provides communications capabilitiesinside and outside the premises in a manner analogous to the network 51in the example of FIG. 1. Depending on the network media and protocol(s)used, the LAN may include a frame switch, a packet router or the likeproviding LAN interconnectivity. Although not shown, a gateway or thelike may also be deployed on the LAN to provide various functions insupport of interconnectivity of the LAN to/from the WAN.

The LAN functionality, however, may essentially be embedded in the roomor area elements, except for the interconnecting media. For example, anyof the system elements in each room or other service area may provideconnectivity and switching/routing functions to interconnect the systemelements via the applicable media to form a LAN on the premises 12.Also, one of the elements in a room or area may provide the interface toany external WAN. Hence, although shown separately for convenience, theelements that form the LAN may be integral with the lighting devices,etc. of the lighting system in the rooms or other types of areasserviced by the illustrated system. Alternatively, all intelligentsystem elements may connect directly to the WAN, in which case the housenetwork is merely a premises wide logical relationship rather than aphysical LAN. If the elements all connect through the WAN to a “cloud”service, the communication between elements could occur via exchangethrough the cloud server.

The WAN communication capability, particularly if the WAN is arelatively public network such as the Internet, may allow variousparties to access the lighting network and the system elements thatcommunicate via the network, as discussed above, for example, relativeto FIG. 2.

The LAN as discussed here need not be a LAN of the type typically usedtoday for computer or mobile device communications within a particularpremises, although the lighting system may use or connect to such anetwork. For purposes of the present discussion, the LAN is a premisesnetwork for data communications among the lighting system elements andother devices within the premises and for data communications to/fromthe wide area network as discussed herein.

Separate from the physical networking configurations are various logicalrelationships among the system elements. For example, although generallysimilar in many respects, one of the elements in a room or other servicearea may be configured as a ‘leader’ unit whereas other system elementsin the particular room or other service area may be configured as‘follower’ units with respect to the designated leader. Theserelationships, however, are relatively dynamic and readily configurable.For example, programming of the elements in the system may provideautomatic/autonomous discovery at installation; and in such an example,an initial set-up routine uses results of the discovery process toset-up logical relationships between elements and possibly otherdevices, for example, including selection of an intelligent systemelement as a leader unit. However, at a later time, if the leader unitis impaired or off-line, the network may be self-healing in that some orall of the set-up routine can be run again to select a replacement as anew leader unit from among the other devices that are operational on aparticular part of the network. Alternatively, the system may have“fallback” plan in place, in which one or more other elements arepre-designated to take over the role of the leader in the event offailure or impairment of the initially selected leader. Effectively,such an arrangement may identify a first in command (leader), a secondin command, etc.

In an example, the intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13 and 15 ofthe system 10 are configured to implement discovery andself-commissioning in a relatively automated manner, as disclosed indetail in the above incorporated U.S. application Ser. No. 13/903,330.Along with discovery and commissioning in relation to other intelligentlighting system elements of the system 10, the system elements 11, 13and 15 may be configured to discover other devices 19 and incorporateelement commissioning functions with regard to those discovered otherdevices. Conversely, other devices 19 may be configured to discover atleast those of the intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 thatsupport wireless communication and perform some related commissioning ina manner similar to the commissioning technique implemented amongst thesystem elements 11, 13 and 15. Alternatively, the commissioningtechnique implemented by the other devices 19 may utilize some but notall of the steps involved in the commissioning amongst the systemelements 11, 13 and 15 for lighting and related operations.

In a premises like that of FIG. 3, the room networks 17 b, 17 k, 17 l,and the corridor network 17 c may also represent logical groupings orsub-networks as well as physical sub-networks. Such a location-relatedlogical group may include the intelligent lighting system elements(lighting devices and any user interfaces and/or standalone sensors) aswell other devices that use the wireless communications and data networkof the system that are located in the particular service area (room orcorridor in the example of FIG. 3). All elements and devices at aparticular residential premises may also be part of a house-wide logicalgroup. However, for other purposes, the system may support other logicalgroupings. Some logical grouping may be for lighting related purposes,although further discussion of the example of FIG. 3 will concentrate onlogical groupings for other purposes. Logical groupings may be set upmanually or automatically as part of an autonomous commissioningprocedure.

As outlined above relative to FIG. 2, data processing equipment of avariety of entities outside the premises may access both the lightingsystem elements and the other devices at the premises via the WAN 61 andthe system 10. In a similar manner, FIG. 3 shows equipment of an outsidedevice vendor and generically shows equipment of hosted services andother third party services. Many communications of such outsideequipment with system element and/or with other devices at the premisesare supported or enhanced by logical groupings or logical sub-networksestablished at the premises. FIG. 3, for example, shows a logicalsub-network for various appliances at the premises. In the example, thelogically grouped ‘appliances’ includes the refrigerator, stove andtoaster in the kitchen. Vendor 1 may also have an associated logicalnetwork of on-premises devices (and possibly devices at other premises)sold or serviced by that vendor. The logical network for vendor 1includes the stove, television and hair dryer in our example. As anotherexample, some or all of the various devices at the premises that use orprovide water to or for the occupants of the residence are logicallygrouped together in a logical ‘water’ sub-network. These logicalsub-networks of other devices at the premises communicate via thewireless network access offered in the illustrated example by thevarious light fixtures and the media of the physical room or corridornetworks and the hose network, and through those on-premises networkmedia and the WAN with outside equipment of the appropriate otherparties.

FIG. 4 provides an alternate depiction of a number of the systemelements and other devices in a manner useful in explaining examples ofseveral other logical arrangements that may be implemented in a systemlike that of FIGS. 1 and 2. For convenience, various system elements arerepresented in FIG. 4 by graphic symbols, as shown by the legend in thedrawing. For example, a rectangle with a shaded section in the upperright corner again represents a lighting fixture with one or moreenhanced capabilities, or “enhanced fixture” (EF). Luminaires arerepresented by circles (L). Luminaires in this example are lightingfixtures or lamps that perform normal lighting functions but do not havethe added capabilities of the enhanced fixtures. Here, the luminaires(L) may include some lighting devices that do not support wirelesscommunications. However, some enhanced fixtures (EF) and/or some otherluminaires (L) do support wireless communications.

Sensors (S) are represented by seven-pointed stars. The sensors may beof types that sense conditions directly related to lighting, such aslighting device output, ambient light or occupancy sensors. However, asan alternative, any sensor represented by a seven-pointed star may beconfigured to detect some other type of condition that is notnecessarily involved in lighting operations, such as sound, atmosphericconditions (e.g. temperature or humidity), vibration, etc. Other typesof sensing for lighting control or other system functions include audioinput, video input, electrical load sensing, etc.

In the drawing, each triangle symbol represents a user interface (UI)device. For lighting purposes, such devices are often referred to aslighting controllers. Examples of lighting controllers include ON/OFFswitches and dimmers. For systems using more advanced lighting devices,user interface devices serving as the lighting controllers may alsoprovide a mechanism for color selection of the lighting output(s). In asystem such as that illustrated in the drawings, the user interfaces mayprovide input (and output) for the user in any convenient or desirableform, in relation to the lighting functions, in relation to otherfunctions monitored or controlled via the system (e.g. HVAC and/or anyindustrial/commercial equipment running on the premises) and possiblyfor access to external information and/or controllable resources via theInternet. Advanced examples of user interfaces include touchscreendisplay devices as well as audio input/output devices, various othervideo input/output device; gestural input devices, etc.

The drawing of FIG. 4 also shows several other types of devices,represented by five-pointed stars and generally referred to as thirdparty devices “PD” (see legend). These PD devices represent in onegeneral class the wide range of the other non-lighting-system devicesthat may utilize the lighting system for communication purposes and mayinteract with elements of the lighting system (similar to 19 in theexamples of FIGS. 1 and 2).

Logical associations allow elements to be linked together, for example,based on a control grouping, based on similar properties, based onproximity, a variety of other criteria and/or combinations of any or allsuch properties. FIG. 4 shows a number of logical groupings. Forexample, the lighting system elements (EF, L, S and UI) as well as thethird party (other) devices PD in each room are shown grouped togetherin logical ‘room’ sub-networks. As another illustrated example, wallcontroller type user interface (UI) devices in a floor or building mightbe logically linked in one grouping to offer the ability to create anoverall view of the lighting operations users have selected throughoutthe floor or building. As another example, all lighting related sensorsand/or all sensors of any other type may be linked together in a logicalgrouping to allow reporting of one or more detected conditions on anoverall basis across the premises or some portion (e.g. one floor)thereof. Similarly, enhanced fixtures and other luminaires throughout apremises may be logically grouped together in a logical lighting devicesor ‘luminaires’ sub-network, for example, to enable a central overseerfunctionality to assist in commissioning or other set-up of such devicesand/or to provide any desired unified on-premises monitoring or controlwith respect to such lighting devices. In a similar fashion, one or moregroups may be set up with respect to third party (other) devices PD thatcommunicate through or with the elements and network of the lightingsystem at the premises.

FIG. 4 also depicts all lighting system elements and all third partydevices at the premises logically grouped together in a floor orbuilding wide network, e.g. encompassing a major portion of or an entirepremises, similar to the logical house network grouping of FIG. 3. Sucha wider sub-network association may facilitate coordinated functionsacross a wider portion of the premises, i.e. across all of the rooms andthe corridor in our example of FIG. 3, e.g. to turn-out all lights andreduce temperature in all areas at a pre-set bedtime or when the userturns out the last light in the bedroom at night. For an enterprise thatcloses at a particular time, as another example, all lighting exceptemergency, security and/or exit lights throughout the floor/buildingnetwork may shut down at a set time shortly after the designated closingtime, when all employees of the enterprise are expected to have departedthe premises. Any appliances in the enterprise may be controlled in amanner coordinated with such lighting control. As another example, in anemergency (detection of a fire or the like), the lighting in all of therooms may come on at once whereas the lights in the corridor might flashin a coordinated sequence to lead people to the emergency exit from thespace. Concurrently, if the fire relates to a fire or smoke detection, asprinkler system might be activated while other water output devices(faucets, washing machines, etc.) might be turned off to avoid reducingwater pressure to the sprinklers.

Physical networking arrangements such as discussed above relative toFIG. 3 may be established as part of a network discovery procedure.Network discovery may be automated or may entail some manual interactionby technical personnel or the like, e.g. to input any passwords or keysutilized to access wireless links/interfaces provided or used by theintelligent elements of the lighting system. Various logical groupings,such as discussed relative to FIGS. 3 and 4, may be established as partof a commissioning and/or provisioning procedure.

In some arrangements, some or all of the other devices may utilize theelements of the lighting system and the associated network largely as adata access hub, e.g. to tunnel through the lighting system 10 to theWAN 61 with little or no interaction with system elements other than asmay be desired to insure authentication and authorization for securitypurposes or the like. With such an approach, minimal network discoveryand configuration of the other devices may suffice.

For some of the other devices, however, the outside communication may bemore effective if supported by a logical grouping within the premises.Also, some of the devices and/or features thereof may take advantage ofthe processing capabilities of the intelligent light system elements. Inthese later types of situations, the other devices may be commissionedto interact with the lighting system elements, where the devicecommissioning operation is similar to or a subset of the procedure forcommissioning intelligent lighting-related elements as parts of thesystem at a particular premises.

Hence, it is envisioned at that at least some installations of alighting system of the type described herein may involve communicationof at least some of the other devices 19 at a particular premises 12with the processor of one or more of the intelligent lighting systemelements 11, 13 or 15 at the premises. Such interactions may facilitateset-up of the other device(s) 19 to communicate via or with the system10, for example, where one or more of the intelligent lighting systemelements 11, 13 or 15 at the premises acts as a central overseer toassist in commissioning of such other device(s) 19. In other cases, oneor more of the intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13 or 15 mayprovide an application function related to some aspect of the operationof a particular type of device 19. In many of the central overseer typeimplementations and/or application function type arrangements, the oneor more intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13 or 15 involved canbe configured to operate as a server with respect to a clientfunctionality of other non-lighting-system devices 19, to deliver aprocessing operation in support of operation of a processor of any ofthe other devices 19.

The processing by elements of the lighting system in support ofprocessor operation or for a non-lighting system device 19 could residein a single lighting system element, e.g. in a single lighting device11. However, it may be advantageous to implement such processing by thelighting system on a distributed processing basis.

As discussed above, some lighting devices and possibly one or more ofthe lighting controllers and/or lighting related sensors of the lightingsystem 10 include wireless data communication interfaces. Although theinterfaces may utilize readily available standardized wirelesscommunication technologies, the wireless interfaces as well ascompatible devices within the premises will typically operate atrelatively low power. However, because there are sufficient wirelessaccess nodes provided by the lighting system elements there issufficient coverage throughout a substantial portion and possibly all ofthe premises to allow other devices in the various areas of thewirelessly premises to communicate through the those lighting systemelements and the backbone data network of the lighting system. In thisway, the wireless communication and network aspects of the system 10enable other devices 19 to access and communicate through the wide areanetwork 61 outside the premises 12. In some examples of arrangements ofthe system 10, at least some type(s) of other devices 19 also maycommunicate with intelligent lighting system elements 11, 13, 15 at thepremises for processing in support of the operation(s) of such otherdevices. For example, for some functions associated with the otherdevices 19, one or more of the intelligent lighting system elements 11,13, 15 may operate as a server with respect to client functionality inthe other devices(s) 19. For example, the server functionality may workas a central overseer (CO) to assist in set-up of devices 19 on thesystem 10 and/or provide intermediate functions between the devices 19and equipment outside the premises (e.g. server relative to the deviceclient functions in the premises, and either client with respect to anexternal server or server with respect to an external client terminal)

Although other communication models may be used, we will assume aclient-server communication relationship between a device 19 and alighting system element 11, 13 or 15 providing a processing function forthat device 19. There could be a single server function provided on onesystem element 11,13 or 15, e.g. to provide assistance to a particulartype of device 19. Depending on the functionality and/or the processingload required for the functionality supported in the lighting systemelement(s), however, a number of the intelligent lighting systemelements may be configured to perform the processing operation tosupport an operation of a processor of other device(s) 19 in adistributed processing manner using processing and/or memory resourcesof each of some number of the intelligent lighting system elements. Thedistributed processing may be implemented as distributed instances ofserver software/functions, and/or the distributed processing may beimplemented as resource sharing amongst the involved intelligentlighting system elements.

Hence, the example will assume two or more instances of relevant serverprogramming. Although the server programming may reside and run on UIdevices and/or standalone sensors, in our example, the serverprogramming instances 81C and 81D reside and run on two of the lightingdevices, as shown at 11C and 11D respectively. Other than the serverprogramming the lighting devices 11C and 11D are essentially the same asthe lighting devices 11 discussed above relative to FIG. 1. Hence, eachlighting device 11C or 11D has a light source 18C or 18D, a processor21C or 21D, a memory 23C or 23D and a communication interface system 24Cor 24D. Each communication interface system 24C or 24D will at leastprovide a communication link with the media forming the on-premisesnetwork 17 for the lighting system 10. Each communication interfacesystem 24C or 24D may or may not support low power wirelesscommunication directly with other devices 19. Although not shown, one orboth of the lighting devices 11C, 11D may include an integrated sensorsimilar to the sensor 15A in the lighting device 11A in the earlierdrawing.

Some operations of the intelligent lighting system elements may involvea server functionality. Although system element(s) running the serverinstance(s) for lighting system related functions could run on othersystem elements, for ease of illustration and discussion, the lightingdevices 11C and 11D also run the programming to perform server functionswith respect to client programming 89 running on some or all of theother intelligent lighting system elements. Although on the samehardware platforms 11C, 11D, the server functionalities for lightingsystem operations and for operations with respect to other devices mayinvolve execution of one, two or more server programs on each platform.

Hence, for discussion purposes, the example of FIG. 5 shows other systemelements 83, which here correspond to others of the lighting devices 11,UI devices 13 and standalone sensors of the earlier example that areconfigured as clients with respect to the particular server function(s)for lighting system purposes implemented on the devices 11C and 11D.Each element 83 will include a user interface, a sensor and/or a lightsource (as in the earlier illustration, but not separately shown in FIG.5). Each element 83 includes a processor 85, a communication interface86 and a memory 87, similar to components of the system elements 11, 13,15 in the earlier example. Of note, the memory 87 of each such element83 stores a client program 89 for interaction with an associated serverprogram 81C or 81D. The communication interface systems 86 will at leastprovide a communication link with the media forming the on-premisesnetwork 17 for the lighting system 10; and many of the interface systems83 also include wireless data communication interfaces in the respectiveinterface systems to support low power wireless data communications forthe other devices 19.

The other devices 19 are similar to those shown in FIG. 1. Again, eachdevice 19 includes a processor 51, a memory 55 and appropriate deviceelectronics 59. A device 19 may also include one or more input and/oroutput (I/O) elements 57 for a user interface. Each of the other devices19 that will communicate with or through the system 10 also includes atleast one wireless (W) communication interface 55 that is compatiblewith the wireless communication capability offered by the particularinstallation of the lighting system at the premises. The electronics 59and the programming in memory 53 run by the processor 55 to controloperation of each particular device 19 will depend on the particulartype of device product. Those of the other devices 19 shown in theexample of FIG. 5 (those that will access the server functionality),also have client programs 91 stored in the memories 53 for execution bythe respective processors 51. The client programs 91 may be similar tothe client programs 89, or the programs 89, 91 may be different (e.g. ifaccessing different server instances or different server functions).

The other devices 19 may access the wireless communications interfacesin the system elements and through those interfaces the networks 17 and61 (FIG. 1), essentially in a pass-through manner, with little or nointeraction with the system 10 other than data transport. In a WiFiexample, this would be the operation if the wireless communicationsinterfaces and associated control functionality were set-up to operatemuch like a public WiFi hotspot with no security requirement and nolog-in requirement. However, such an arrangement has very low security,from the perspective of the system 10; and such an arrangement leavesthe operator, vendor or maintenance enterprise affiliated with system 10little or no control over use of the communication facilities of thesystem 10 by other devices 19 and the users of such devices 19. Hence,it may be preferable to commission the other devices for operation viathe system 10 in a more sophisticated manner. Such commissioning is anexample of one type of function that may be performed by a serverimplemented in a lighting system element, such as an instance 81C, 81Dof a server functionality executing on a lighting device 11C or 11D. Insuch an arrangement, the server functionality may operate as a centraloverseer for device set-up and/or as a controller with respect to someor all of the other devices 19 and/or with respect to some or all of theother lighting system elements 83.

By way of another example, some lighting system element operationsand/or some operations of the other devices 19 may utilize other typesof server functionality, e.g. to obtain additional information or otherresources in support of processing operations of the system element 83or the other device 19.

A single instance of a server running on one system element may at timesbe stressed by high processing demands. Also, a system that utilizes asingle server instance for a crucial system function or service may bevulnerable to interruptions, e.g. if there is a failure of the elementor of communication with the element running the server instance. Toaddress such possible concerns, a system 10 can run some number ofseparate instances of a particular server functionality, in parallelwith one another on multiple intelligent system elements. Each suchserver instance would utilize a copy of the relevant server programmingand a copy of any data or database needed for the particular systemservice. Use of multiple instances of the servers may also speed upresponse time when interacting with clients implemented on the othersystem elements.

To the extent that data used by the server functionality may change overtime of operation of the system 10, the server instances wouldcoordinate with each other to update the copy of the data/database at orused by each instance of the server, e.g. to maintain synchronism asbetween multiple instances of the relevant data. FIG. 5 is a simplifiedillustration of such an arrangement. Alternatively, the data used by theserver functionality may be stored in a distributed manner acrossmultiple elements (e.g. as distributed hash tables) to minimize thesynchronization operations.

Hence, in the example, two of the lighting devices 11C and 11D runinstances 81C and 81D of server programming for execution by processors21C and 21D thereof. The server instances 81C and 81D configure thoselighting devices 11C, 11D to operate in a distributed processing fashionto implement a server function with respect to an overall processingfunctionality and related server communications via the datacommunication network, generally represented again by the cloud 17. Theoverall processing functionality offered by the server instances 81C,81D may be a lighting system functionality, e.g. as used or consumed bylighting device clients 89; and/or the overall processing functionalityoffered by the server instances 81C and 81D may be a functionality asused or consumed by other non-lighting system device clients 91.

The server program instances 81C, 81D are represented generally by iconssimilar to hardware devices such as server computers; but the programinstances 81C, 81D are actually server programming stored in memories23C, 23D for execution by the processors 21C, 21D (hence, the servers81C, 81D are shown in dotted line form). As outlined earlier, theprocessing function of the system implemented by such server instancesmay relate to a CO functionality, some type of controller service, acentral communication function/service, or a processing service relatedto operations of processors 51 of other devices 19. Also, although onlytwo instances 81C, 81D of each server program are shown, there may beany appropriate number of such instances for implementation of aparticular function or service in a system of a particular size and/orcomplexity. Also, for different functions, there may be other serversrunning as multiple instances of other server programs running on thesame or different lighting system elements.

The lighting devices 11C and 11D are shown in this drawing as examplesof intelligent system elements that may store and execute serverprogramming instances. It should be noted, however, that intelligentsensors, user intelligent interface devices or other intelligentelements of the system 10 (FIG. 1) or communicating through theon-premises data network of the system 10 may store and execute serverprogramming instances instead of or in addition to the intelligentlighting devices 11C and 11D. One set of server instances may implementthe server-side aspects and communications with respect to one or anynumber of system functionalities. However, other processingfunctionalities of the system 10 may utilize server program instancesstored in and executed on other system elements.

At least with respect to the particular overall processing function ofthe system 10 supported by the server program instances 81C, 81D, theserver program instances 81C, 81D interact with some number of othernon-lighting-system devices 19 and/or some number of other intelligentsystem elements represented generically at 83. The other elements 83 canbe any of the types of intelligent system elements discussed above; andthe other devices 19 can be any type of non-lighting-system devicediscussed earlier.

As shown in FIG. 5, various other intelligent system elements 87 willinclude client programming 89 stored in memories 87 thereof forexecution by the processors 85 of the other intelligent system elements83, to configure each of the other intelligent system elements 83 toimplement a client function with respect to the processing functionalityof the system supported by the server instances 81C, 81D. Similarly, thevarious other non-lighting-system devices 19 that will also be consumersof the server functionality will include client programming 91 stored inmemories 53 thereof for execution by the processors 51 of thenon-lighting-system devices 19, to configure each of thenon-lighting-system devices 19 to implement a client function withrespect to the processing functionality of the system supported by theserver instances 81C, 81D. The client programming 89 or 91 will alsosupport related client communications with the server functionimplemented by the instances of the server programming 81C, 81D on thelighting devices 11C, 11D in our example. Hence, the drawing showsarrows through the network for client-server communications between theserver instances 81C, 81D and the clients 89 or 91.

In a multi-instance server implementation such as shown in FIG. 5, anyone server may be able to perform on its own to handle client-serverinteractions with one or more elements 83 and/or devices 19independently of the other server instance(s), while each the otherserver instance(s) independently handles other client-serverinteractions with others of the elements 83 and/or devices 19. To theextent that they relate to the same overall function, however, they willoften use or process some of the same data. For example, if a particularprocessing functionality of the system involves a database, all of therelevant server instances will manipulate that same database. In our twoinstance server example, to insure that both instances of the serverprogramming 81C, 81D have access to the same state of the database if orwhen necessary, the server instances 81C, 81D will communicate with eachother through the data communication network 17 to synchronize anyseparate copies of the database maintained by or for the individualserver instances 81C, 81D, as represented by the Sync arrow between theserver instances 81C, 81D. Any appropriate data synchronizing techniquemay be used.

The use of multiple server instances allows for server load distributionacross multiple hardware platforms of intelligent elements of thesystem. The use of multiple server instances may also provide redundancyin the event of impairment or failure of a system element orcommunications to an element executing one of the server instances.Various load distribution and/or fail-over techniques may be used.

The server functionality can provide processing operations in support ofoperations in non-lighting-system devices 19 in a variety of ways. Forexample, if a device 19 needs additional information to implement atask, it may request that information from one of the server instances81C or 81D. If the server does not have the information, the server inturn may obtain the information from another source via the outsidenetwork 61. As another class of examples, the processor of a low-end‘brain’ in a device 19 may not itself have the processing or memoryresources to perform a task and may instead seek assistance from theserver 81C or 81D, either sufficient to complete the task or as aninterim assistance before seeking a final processing outcome. Speech oroptical processing of user inputs are examples of this later class ofserver assistance. The device 19 may receive the relevant input, e.g.audio, and send digitized audio information to the server 81C or 81D.The server may fully recognize any spoken commands in the audio data;although more likely, the server 81C or 81D would parse the audio andpossibly recognize words. The server or the device itself could thensend the processed information to a server of the device manufacturer orthe like on the network 61 to determine the precise input command andthus how the device 19 should respond. Similar processing can beprovided with respect to optical input to recognize a gesture andprovide an appropriate instruction to the device as to how to respond toa user's gestural input.

As outlined above, the intelligent component of the non-lighting-systemdevice 19 has data communication to/through the fixture or the like ofthe lighting system and uses the lighting system's on-premises backbonedata network 17 for data communication transport for the smart elementof the appliance or the like. The lighting system 10 provides a standarddata communication interface, typically wireless at low power. The otherdevices 19 for the premises can all be built to the standard lightingsystem network interface standard, e.g. to use the particular low powerwireless standard. The other devices 19 need not be built to supportmany different standards and/or rely on a dedicated network deployedspecifically for data communication purposes. The network features ofthe system may be sufficiently intelligent to detect each new device andnegotiate communication rights. In addition, it may be advantageous toprovide a relatively ‘open’ software architecture, e.g. so that thesystem supports a standard application program interface (API) at leastfor network interface/communications. With such an approach, applicationdevelopers can draft different applications for the lighting systemelements and/or for the other smart devices in the premises.

Both for telecom and for software, the issues relate to interoperabilityof the other devices 19 with and through the system 10, so that otherdevices 19 talk to the system elements as deemed appropriate, althoughdifferent policies or permissions may limit the ability of one oranother of the device 19 to communicate with or through the system 10.For example, some devices 19 may have applications and permissions tocontrol lighting, whereas other devices 19 communicate through thelighting elements and the network 17 to their associated outside systemsbut do not control lighting or look to lighting system elements forsupportive processing functions.

To further appreciate the relationships and interactions, it may behelpful to consider logical relationships or stacks as may be involvedin programming and/or communications. A telecommunications protocolstack may be logically considered as having as many as seven layers. Asoftware stack may have fewer layers, for example a physical layer fordevice drivers or the like, and operating system (OS) with one or moreapplication programming interfaces (APIs) for higher layer applications.In the telecommunication stack, the OS and above are all part of the‘application’ layer.

FIG. 6 is a logical diagram of a program stack, for programming whichmay be used in intelligent system elements for an implementation of alighting system such as that discussed above relative to FIGS. 1-5. Asimilar logical stack, or at least elements thereof, may be implementedin non-lighting-system 19, particularly those that will communicate withserver functionality provided by the system elements 11, 13, or 15.

At its most basic level, a processor may be considered or modeled as astate machine, as shown at the lowest layer of the stack in FIG. 6. Inits simplest form, a state machine will switch between states inresponse to different sets of signals or values on its inputs. Coreprocessing functions may be just above but near to the state machinelevel. The core function layer, for example, may implement the driverand/or interface functions for converting between the inputs and outputsof the state machine and the signals produced by or used to drive anyinput and/or output components of the intelligent system element. Thecore functions also provide a program interface between the statemachine and the higher level programming.

Logically speaking, several layers of software programming run on top ofthe state machine and core processor functions, in our example. The nexthighest layer may be a real-time operating system (RTOS) configured toservice real-time application requests or interrupts, or the next layermay be a more computer-like operating system (OS). The top two layers inthe exemplary stack represent applications running on top of and thusthrough the operating system layer. Part or a sub-layer at theapplications level of the exemplary stack is for applications foradvanced operations (Ops). Resource sharing type distributed processing,as will be discussed later relative to FIG. 7, for example, may beimplemented via an advanced ops program application. Client programs 89,91 and server programs 81C, 81D are additional examples of applicationlayer programs.

The top layer of the software stack is a general application layer. Anyof a wide variety of applications may reside and run at this layer ofthe logical program stack. The CO/controller services and the responsiveoperations of the system elements may be implemented at the applicationlayer. Similarly, server functionality supporting the client operationsof the processors of the non-lighting device 19 may be implemented atthe application layer. Hence, the top layer in our example includes someapplications by or controlled by the system vendor, for example, tosupport system services that the vendor designs the system to provide.For example, the vendor application layer may include the client 89 or91 and/or a server instance 81C or 81D for a particular CO, controlleror communication service of the system 10 and/or for a server functionconsumed by devices 19.

For some purposes, the software protocol stack and aspects of theprogramming/configuration at various layers are defined and secured bythe system manufacturer. It is envisioned that the system 10 will beopen to third party application and/or device developers. In an opensystem, third parties will be able to build devices that utilize thesystem and its protocols for operation including interactions withelements provided by the system manufacturer. In such a system, thesystem manufacturer may opt to allow third parties some access toprogram or otherwise interact at various layers of the stack, forexample, to allow third parties to manufacturer and sell other systemelements or non-lighting-system devices 19 for use on the system 19and/or to allow third parties to write client and server applicationsfor the system. Hence, the highest layer in our example also may includeapplications (Apps) by other providers, for example, third partysoftware developers. Manufacturers of other system elements and/or othernon-lighting-system devices intended for operation on or through thesystem are allowed to write application layer programming for their ownserver functions and associated client functions, to allow the systemvendor's elements 11, 13, 15 (or 83) to interact with elements on thesystem of non-lighting-system devices 19 developed by other vendors.

The discussion of FIG. 6 focused on the software architecture. The openapproach to the system configuration, however, may also extend to theprotocols utilized for communications. To provide a framework for thispart of our discussion, it may help to consider a model of a protocolstack. The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model defines a sevenlayer-stack. The OSI reference model is not itself a networkarchitecture. Rather it specifies a hierarchy of protocol layers anddefines the function of each layer in the network.

As a logical matter, operations or functions at each layer performed onone device communicate only with the functions at that layer performedon another device, in accordance with a protocol defining the rules ofthis communication. However, to achieve such communication across anetwork, the operations or functions at the layer transfer informationdown from layer to layer in one through the lower layers of the stack onthe device, then through the channel medium of the network, and up fromlayer to layer of the lower layers on the other device to reach andcommunicate with the same layer on the other device. With this approach,it is easy to consider each of the layers as communicating with itscounterpart at the same level, in a “horizontal” direction, for purposesof design of the various layers and understanding their functions.

The bottom layer of the OSI stack model is the physical communicationlayer, which deals with physical and electrical aspects of the protocol.The physical communication layer provides transmission of raw data bitsover the physical communication channel through the particular network.On top of the physical layer, the next layer is the data link layer,which provides services to enable transfer of data between networkentities via the media used at the physical layer. The data link layertransforms the physical layer, which interfaces directly with thechannel medium, into a communication link that appears error-free to thenext layer above. The data link layer performs such functions asstructuring data into packets or frames, and attaching controlinformation to the packets or frames, such as checksums for errordetection, and packet numbers.

Although the data link layer is primarily independent of the nature ofthe physical transmission medium, certain aspects of the data link layerfunction are more dependent on the transmission medium. For this reason,the data link layer in some network architectures is divided into twosublayers: a logical link control sublayer, which performs allmedium-independent functions of the data link layer, and a media accesscontrol (MAC) sublayer. This sublayer determines which station shouldget access to the communication channel when there are conflictingrequests for access. The functions of the MAC layer are more likely tobe dependent on the nature of the transmission medium.

In the system 10, the interfaces to network 17 in the variouscommunication interface systems of elements 11, 13, 15 will implementphysical and data link layer protocols that correspond to the technologyadopted for the system's data network 17. However, the variouscommunication interface systems of elements 11, 13, 15 that supportwireless communication will implement physical and data link layerprotocols that correspond to the technology adopted for wirelesscommunications with the non-lighting-system devices 19. The wireless (W)communication interfaces in the non-lighting-system devices 19 willsimilarly implement wireless physical and data link layer protocols thatcorrespond to the technology adopted for wireless communications.

On top of the data link layer, the next layer is the network layer,facilitates the transfer of data to a host on another network whilemaintaining a desired level of quality of service. The network layerprovides capabilities required to control connections between endsystems through the network, e.g., set-up and tear-down of connections.Internet Protocol (IP), for example, may be implemented in the networklayer of the OSI model. An IP address therefore is associated withprotocol services at the network layer.

On top of the network layer, the OSI model specifies a transport layerprotocol, which provides reliable control of data transfer between endsystems. The transport layer, for example, may provide error control,flow control and/or data segmentation. TCP (Transmission ControlProtocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) typically run at thetransport layer on top of network layer IP.

Above the transport layer, a session layer is responsible forestablishing and managing communication sessions between presentationentities, that is to say between entities operating at the next higherlayer of the protocol stack. For example, the session layer determineswhich entity communicates at a given time and establishes any necessarysynchronization between the entities. Above the session layer, apresentation layer serves to represent information transferred betweenapplications in a manner that preserves its meaning (semantics) whileresolving differences in the actual representation (syntax).

A protocol that is specific to the actual application that utilizes theinformation communicated runs at the top of the protocol stack. Hence,the top layer of the stack is referred to as the application layer.However, it should be noted that the application layer fortelecommunications purposes includes concepts other than the top layerapplications of the software stack. For example, the operating system(OS) and all programming running on or above the OS in the softwarestack are all part of the ‘application’ layer of the telecommunicationsstack.

In actual system implementations, two or more of the layers of thecommunication stack may be combined into functions of a smaller numberof layers or into just one layer.

It is envisioned that the system manufacturer will likely specify (andsecure) some particular application layer functions, for example, forbasic system operations and maintenance; and such an arrangement willlimit the configuration that is stored for that portion of theapplication layer.

However, as discussed relative to FIG. 6, it is also envisioned that thesystem 10 will be open to third party application and/or devicedevelopers. Third parties will be able to build devices 19 oralternative system elements that utilize the system and its protocolsfor operation including interactions with elements provided by thesystem manufacturer.

The open approach, for example, may also enable a customer that will ownor occupy a particular premises having a system 10 to purchase andinstall third party devices for lighting devices, lighting systemcontroller or lighting related sensors and/or to purchase additionalprogramming for desired functions different from (or possibly competingwith) those offered by the system manufacturer. The open approach alsoallows a wide range of third parties to develop non-lighting-systemelements 19 that communicate through and possibly interact with theelements 11, 13 and/or 15 of the lighting system 10 and to develop awide variety of application programming for those devices and/or anyassociated server functionalities or the like intended to run on thesystem elements 11, 13, 15.

The degree of third party access to the layers of the program ortelecommunication protocol stacks may vary amongst third party vendors.A trusted or ‘certified partner’ may have access to more layers, whereasnon-certified third parties may only be allowed to connect to the mediaand write application layer programming that otherwise conforms to theapplication layer programming interfaces to the lower layers of thestack.

Users of different types may also be granted access to different amountsof the stacks, particularly the program stack. For example, a governmententity with a high degree of sophistication and a need for security mayhave greater access to control its system, whereas a small businessenterprise may only be allowed access to adjust its system operations atthe application level.

Many of the intelligent functions of the lighting system elementsdiscussed above can often be performed using the processing and memoryresources of one involved system element. A lighting device 11, forexample, can receive, process and respond to a command from a userinterface device 11 by appropriately adjusting the output of the lightsource 18 of the particular device 11. The server functionality may beexecuted in a single intelligent lighting system element. The exemplarysystem 10, however, implements distributed processing. One type ofdistributed processing is the use of multiple instances of a serverfunctionality 81C, 81D.

Even where implemented on a distributed processing basis, by multipleinstances of the server 81C, 81D, processing at one element may besufficient to complete a particular processing operation for serving aclient request. For example, when a newly installed device 19 requestscommissioning assistance from one of the servers 81C, 81D, that servermay be able to provide the information to the requesting client 91 indevice 19, e.g. from data at the server or by requesting data fromanother source via the network.

However, the system 10 at the premises 12 may implement an additional oralternative form of distributed processing involving a processing and/ormemory resource sharing functionality. Resource sharing involves anelement with a processing job asking for and obtaining help from othersystem elements. Some processing operations of one or more of theelements of the system 10 may require more processing resources ormemory resources than are available at a particular lighting systemelement. The system 10 therefore may be configured to support any suchoperation that may be more resource intensive via the resource sharing.The system may implement resource sharing for lighting systemoperations, e.g. to process complex sensor data at one element or acrossa large premises and determine how one or more of the system elementsshould respond thereto. The system may also implement resource sharingin support of server operations. To the extent that a server task for acentralized service is amenable to distributed processing, the systemelement that also is configured as the server may distribute the serverprocessing task to other elements. The resource sharing in support ofserver operations may apply to lighting system related functions, e.g.to process audio or optical inputs through system elements 11, 13, 15 torecognize and respond to user commands to control lighting or the like.

However, the resource sharing in support of server operations also mayapply to functions in support of operations of other devices 19. Forexample, if a server 81C or 81D has a request from a client 91 in one ofthe devices 19, the programming executed by the particular processor 21Cor 21D will allow the lighting device 11C or 11D to determine if theprocessing job is amenable to resource sharing type distributedprocessing. If so, the device 11C, 11D operating at the server interactswith other system elements to 11, 13, 15 so as to distribute theprocessing job, receive results, compile an overall result and thenprovide a response based on the overall result back to the client 91 inthe particular device 19.

In the discussion of programming, it was assumed that the resourcesharing type distributed processing (see e.g. of FIG. 7) was implementedat the advanced ops application layer of the stack. The serveroperations of the system elements are implemented at the applicationlayer.

The process flow shown in FIG. 7 represents a simple example of aresource sharing procedure for distributed processing, which may beimplemented in a lighting system 10 like that of FIGS. 1-5.

In the example, a first lighting system element has a processing job toperform. The resource sharing may apply to jobs in support of lightingsystem operations and to operations in support of processing or the likeby the other non-lighting-system devices 19 at the premises 12.

The element with the processing job to perform may be any intelligentelement of the system 10, although for purposes of a specific example todiscuss, we will assume that the element that has the processing job ortask is one of the lighting devices, and is therefore identified asdevice 1 in FIG. 7. The device 1 may be any system element that may seekassistance with its own processing job; or the device 1 may be anelement configured as a server having a server operation job amenable toresource sharing to assist in performance of a server-function relatedtask. The server function may be one supporting lighting systemoperations, or the server function may interact with clients 91 of otherdevices 19.

At step S1, the lighting device 1 recognizes that it may be prudent toseek help to perform the task at hand, in this case, using resources ofothers of the intelligent system elements.

The device 1 can perform at least some tasks utilizing the element's owninternal processor and memory. For example, a lighting device typicallywill be able to receive and appropriately process a lighting command,e.g. to set a light level and/or to set an associated colorcharacteristic of the device's light source, to adjust its operationallight output as commanded, without the need for resources of otherintelligent elements of the system. A user interface (UI) deviceconfigured as a lighting controller generally will be able to sendcommands in response to user inputs to any lighting devices it controls;and, at least under most circumstances, a sensor will be able to reportits sensed condition to any system elements configured to receive andutilize such information. However, other tasks may more readily lendthemselves to distributed processing. Some such tasks with a potentialfor distributed processing may call for more processing or memoryresources than readily available within the device 1 (e.g. withoutcompromising core lighting functions of the device). Tasks with apotential for distributed processing typically will be tasks that can behandled in some reasonable fashion by some number of individualelements, e.g. can be readily split into sub-tasks for processing and/orstorage in different elements, although there may be some tasks that bythe nature of the processing or storage involved cannot readily be spiltamongst multiple elements. Some tasks may require faster completion thanthe device alone can provide with only its own resources and thereforebest implemented via distributed processing. Conversely some resourceintensive tasks may be relatively insensitive to time-to-completion andamenable to wider distribution for processing (e.g. processing of audio,image or video data).

As outlined above, the distributed processing tasks handled by resourcesharing may relate to lighting system operations, general processingtasks associated with the system and/or tasks for other parties.Lighting tasks that may be amenable to distributed processing, forexample, may relate to lighting control operations, e.g. to process datafrom numerous sensors and make some overall control decision. Suchlighting system tasks may be implemented by an element operating as aserver for one of the CO/controller services. General processing tasksof the system may include, for example, processing audio or videoinputs, either for a lighting control operation in response to userinput in such a fashion or for some other system function or feature(e.g. to access information or a non-lighting control function inresponse to the user audio or video input). A task for a non-lightingsystem device 19 might entail processing sensor, audio or video inputdata from one or more of the devices 19, to determine how the device 19should proceed or to configure the relevant data for delivery to anoutside party, either on a regular basis or in response to a specificrequest/instruction from the outside party other particular device(s)19. Similar processing may be handled on a distributed processing basiswithin the system, to process such data received from outside thesystem, e.g. for distribution to other devices 19 at the premises 12.

Hence, the device 1 may have a processing job to perform in response toone or more of its own inputs or in response to an instruction or thelike received another system element or from outside the system.However, if the device 1 is an element configured as a server, thedevice 1 may have a processing job to be performed in response to or fora communication with a client 89 or 91.

From the various factors involved in the processing task at hand, in theprocessing flow of FIG. 7, the device 1 will recognize that the task isone that is appropriate for resource-sharing type distributedprocessing, e.g. involving processor or memory intensive operationsand/or not time critical, etc. Also, based on characteristics of thejob, e.g. source, lighting/non-lighting function, time sensitivity, orthe like, the device 1 will assign a relative priority value or level tothe particular processing job. The programming and/or the protocols usedfor signaling between system elements that may be involved in theresource-sharing type distributed processing in the system 10 can definean appropriate format and range of values for a job priority levelparameter.

The lighting device 1 will be in communication with at least some numberof other intelligent elements of the lighting system 10, referred to inthis process flow example as neighbors of the device 1. The neighborelements may be other lighting fixtures, intelligent UI devices,intelligent sensors or any other type(s) of intelligent elements thatare part of or communicating via the lighting system 10.

At step S2, the lighting device 1 queries other intelligent systemelements, i.e. the neighbors in the example, essentially to request helpin performing the processing task or job. The queried neighbors mayinclude any number of other elements of the system 10. A small group ofneighbors, for example, might be those elements logically associatedwith the device in some small group or sub-network, such as elements inthe same room or other service area sub-network. The queried neighborsmay include all system elements on the system 10 or any sub-set ofelements between the smallest size group and the complete set. Asdiscussed more later, the sending device 1 may pick and choose which ofits ‘neighbors’ from any particular grouping to query with regard to thecurrent job or task, based on information about element performancelearned from earlier resource-sharing type distributed processing ofother tasks and/or requirements for the task at hand.

The exemplary resource-sharing type distributed processing procedureincludes learning features, for the device that is distributing the joband for the neighbors that respond to queries or requests to contributeresources for distributed job processing and/or that actually contributetheir resources to distributed job processing. The learning process oneach side of the distributed processing, job sub-task distribution asopposed to offering resources and performing an allocated sub-task, helpthe various system elements to adapt and optimize the distributedprocessing operations over time. As will be discussed at various stagesof our description of the exemplary processing flow, information thathas been learned from distributed processing of prior jobs informs thevarious elements in their decisions or responses at various stages ofthe process. Optimization may also involve some randomization.

For learning purposes, each intelligent system element configured todistribute portions of a task may establish, maintain and store alearning table for the distribution function; and each intelligentsystem element configured to offer resources to another intelligentsystem element and if instructed contribute such resources to adistributed processing operation may establish, maintain and store alearning table for such in-bound query response and sub-task processing.Of course, many of the intelligent system elements 11, 13, 15 (or 83)may play both roles during processing of different jobs over a period oftime and may learn about both sides of the distributed processing. Anintelligent system element configured to participate on both sides ofthe distributed processing may maintain learned data about bothtypes/sides of the operations, either in two tables or in a combinedtable. If separate tables are used, each table may be adjusted inresponse to a change in the other, in appropriate circumstances.

In general, learning entails analysis of performance by an elementand/or by other elements involved in handling of each distributedprocessing job to determine distributed processing metrics ofperformance. Examples of learned performance parameters that may beassessed in selecting other neighbor elements during the taskdistribution include turn-around time or turn-around time per unit ofprocessed data, number or percentage of dropped packets, average amountof memory resources offered (e.g. bytes of storage) and/or amount ofprocessing resources offered (e.g. in units related to data to beprocessed, number of processing cycles or average processing rate)and/or actually provided, during some number of prior distributed jobprocessing operations. Examples of learned performance parameters thatmay be assessed in determining how to respond to a new inquiry fordistributed processing assistance include amount of data processed, timerequired, resources used, delay incurred in processing of other tasks,or the like, for tasks distributed by the receiving device.

In general, the learned distributed processing metrics of performanceallows an element to prioritize one or more lists of neighbors/otherelements for use in making decisions and selections based on highestrelative ranking on the applicable list. For distribution, the device 1may select some number of the highest ranking neighbors. In contrast, anelement offering to take part in a distributed task may choose whetherto offer to help or how much if any of that element's resources to offerbased on the ranking of the particular requesting device 1, based onlearned distributed processing metrics of performance. With such anapproach, an element tends to select or respond most favorably to thehighest ranked element(s) in the particular prioritized listing, in aneffort to optimize operations.

When decisions in the process (e.g. FIG. 7) are made based on thelearned performance metrics about other elements, however, the elementmaking the decision can introduce a random variation in the decision,for example, to select or respond to a lighting device or other elementthat has not or seldom been chosen or favored at the particular decisionpoint in the past. As a result, the element making the selection orresponse will from time to time randomly select or favor another elementthat would otherwise appear as less than optimal based solely on thepreviously learned performance information. However, this allows theselecting or responding element to learn more about the randomly chosenelement for future processing purposes and update the parameters in thelearned table(s) for optimization of future distributed processingoperations. A random variation of this type, for example, may allow theelement making the decision to discover changes and adjust its learnedinformation accordingly, for better optimization of future distributedprocessing operations.

Returning to the process flow of FIG. 7, in a particularly intelligentimplementation of the resource-sharing type distributed processing, thedevice with the task to distribute can select among elements in somegroup or sub-group based on performance data about elements in the groupor sub-group learned from prior job distribution operations for sendingthe query in step S2. The learned performance parameters for jobdistribution enables the device 1 to prioritize a list of neighborelements for job distribution and to query some number of the highestpriority elements likely to offer and provide sufficient resources tohandle the particular task at hand. Only a few may be chosen from thehigh-end of the priority list for a small task, whereas the sendingdevice 1 may select more or all of the neighbors to query for a largertask. As the process is repeated over time for multiple distributedprocessing tasks, the device 1 will tend to most often choose the otherelements that are rated higher for performance based on the learnedperformance parameters, for the query step. Lower rated elements will beselected less often. However, the priority for such selection for thequery step S2 may change over time as conditions at other elementschange and the sending device 1 updates its learned performance metricsaccordingly; and the occasional randomization of the neighbor selectioncan enhance the process of learning about changes.

The device 1 sends the query message through the network media used inthe relevant portion(s) of the system 10 installed at the particularpremises 12, to the neighbors chosen initially for purposes of theinquiry about the current task processing. The inquiry, for example, maybe sent as a broadcast, sent as a multicast to selected neighbors orsent as individual data messages to each of the selected neighbors,depending on the network media and/or data communication protocolsutilized by the particular system implementation.

The request message for the query in step S2 will include at least someinformation about the current job, including the assigned job prioritylevel. The information in the query, for example, may also providevarious metrics about the task at hand and/or the sub-tasks thereofbeing distributed to other elements. For example, such information mayindicate the type of processing involved, the type/format of the data tobe processed, any time constraints or deadlines for sub-task completion,the overall amount of data or the expected sub-divided amounts of datato be processed by recipient neighbors, or any other parameters aboutthe task that may be helpful in enabling the queried neighbors todetermine how to respond to the query. The information about the currentjob may also include a job or task identifier.

Each queried neighbor element will analyze the information about the jobfrom the query message it receives from the device 1 in comparison toits own resources, current data processing operations, status or thelike. For example, the receiving element may compare the priority of thetask that is to be distributed to the priority or priories of any of itsown tasks in progress or any distributed processing sub-tasks thereceiving element may already be working on for other source elements.The receiving element may also analyze factors about the task that is tobe distributed, versus what if any of its own resources that elementmight offer and allocate to the task, in view of its ongoing processingoperations and any expected higher priority tasks. For example, if thereceiving element is a lighting device, that receiving element may beable to offer some resources to handle part of the task but stillreserve sufficient resources to address a command to change a lightsetting if received while working on a part of the task.

Neighbor elements that do not have (or for various reasons will notoffer) resources may not respond to the query. Alternatively, suchunavailable neighbor elements may send responses, but their responses insuch cases would indicate that they are not offering resources to assistin performance of the distributed processing job currently offered bythe device 1. In the example, the device 1 will adjust its learned tableabout its neighbors to reflect any neighbors that do not offer to assistin the distributed processing job, e.g. to indicate other elements didnot respond or indicate any reason given in a response declining toparticipate.

Each receiving element that has resources available will set a requesttimeout and send a reply message back through the network to the device1 (S3). This period essentially is a time limit during which theneighbor will wait for further instructions about the job. However, ifthe timeout period expires (S4) without follow-up instructions about thejob from the device 1, then the neighbor will release the promisedresources at step S5, in this scenario, without having processed anypart of the task at hand. In this way, the unused resources areavailable for other uses by the neighbor or for other distributedprocessing operations. After releasing the resources, the neighborelement will update its learning table about distributed processingoffered by other elements, as shown at S6. In the timeout scenario (thatpassed through S4), for example, the neighbor will update its learnedperformance metric information about device 1 to reflect that device 1did not send a sub-task to the neighbor after the neighbor offeredresources in response to the query. The neighbor can use suchperformance metric information in future to adjust its responses tofuture queries from device 1.

Returning to step S3, as noted, at least the neighbors that have andwill offer available resources send back a reply message, which isreceived at the device 1. Each reply from a device offering toparticipate in the distributed processing operation will includeinformation about the resources of the neighbor element which thatelement is offering to make available for sub-task processing of thecurrently offered job. Examples of such available resource informationinclude: processing power, memory, software/capability, reservationtime, etc. Each reply may also indicate the relative priority of anylocal task or prior distributed processing task that is already inprogress on the responding neighbor element. In this step S3, therequesting device 1 will receive similar replies from some number of itsneighbors, indicating whether or not the other intelligent systemelements have processing or memory resources available for theprocessing job. In our example, at least some of the replies fromneighbors offering available resources provide information about theresources that each other element offering to help in the distributedtask processing can make available. In the example, the device 1 willadjust its learning table about its neighbors to reflect those neighborsthat offered to assist in the distributed processing job and/or toreflect the resources each such neighbor offered in response to theinquiry sent in step S2.

In step S7, the device 1 with the task to distribute analyzes potentialcandidates for distributed processing of the task, for example, toprioritize a list of the neighbor elements that responded (respondents,in the drawing). The device 1 can prioritize the respondents based oninformation contained in the responses, for example, based oninformation about the resources each is offering and/or priority of anyother tasks the respondents are already processing. The device 1 canalso prioritize the respondents based on learned information regardingperformance metrics of the respondents that the device 1 selected andused to assist in prior distributed processing operations.

The device 1 in our example will also know the priority and requirementsof the data processing task that the device 1 is trying to distribute.From the prioritized list created in S7, the device 1 can now select anappropriate number of the respondents starting at the highest rank andworking down through the list to select a sufficient number of therespondents to provide the resources to meet the requirements of theparticular data processing task.

The device 1 essentially allocates portions of the processing job to theselected respondent elements. Hence, at step S8, the device 1 createswork packets for the selected respondents. By work packets here, we donot necessarily mean IP packets or the like, but instead are referringto sets of instructions and associated data for the portions of the jobthat the device 1 allocates to the selected respondents. For largeprocessing jobs, for example, in a system using IP packet communicationsover the network media, each ‘work packet’ for a sub-task allocated to aselected respondent may utilize some number of IP packets addressed tothe particular respondent neighbor element. The device 1 may send one,two more work packets to each of the selected respondent neighborelements. In our example, the distributing device 1 stores a record ofeach work packet and an identifier of the neighbor element to whichdevice 1 assigned the particular work packet.

The work packets created for each selected respondent may be tailored tothe particular respondent. For example, respondents offering moreprocessing or memory resources may be sent more of the data to process.Respondent elements with particularly advantageous capabilities (e.g. avideo processor not currently engaged in another processing task) mayreceive task assignments particularly suited to their capabilities. Theallocations and associated work packet creations also may be adjustedbased on the learning table. For example, if a particular respondent hasperformed better in the past when handling a somewhat smaller dataallocation, the device 1 may limit the data allocation for that elementaccordingly.

In the process flow of FIG. 7, in step S8, the device 1 sends the workpackets to the selected respondents through the network communicationmedia of the lighting system 10. Although not shown for convenience, thesystem elements may be configured to require an acknowledgement of eachwork packet. In such an arrangement, a neighbor would send anacknowledgement message back through the network to the distributingdevice 1. If no acknowledgement is received from a particular neighbor,after some number of one or more re-tries, the distributing device 1could select a lower priority neighbor from the list used in step S8 andtry sending the undelivered work packet to the alternate neighbor in asimilar fashion. Each work packet sent/delivered to a neighbor willinclude a portion of the data to be processed for the particular task aswell as instructions as to how the data in the work packet is to beprocessed, essentially to enable each respondent to perform an allocatedportion or sub-task of the distributed processing job. Each work packetmay include an identifier of the overall processing job and/or anidentifier of the particular assigned sub-task.

At this point in the discussion, we will assume that each intelligentsystem element that receives a work packet for an allocated portion ofthe distributed processing job will successfully complete and returnresults for the portion of the job allocated thereto. Several scenariosin which work packets are dropped without sub-task completion will bediscussed later.

Hence, at this point in our exemplary process flow, each of the neighborelements that the device 1 selected for a sub-task receives one or morework packets containing data and instructions for that sub-task as partof the communications in step S8. The element receiving the work packetperforms its allocated portion of the processing job on the receiveddata, in accordance with the instructions, using resources of theprocessor and/or memory of the receiving element of the lighting system(step S9). At step S10, each selected respondent neighbor element sendsa result of its sub-task processing back through the data communicationnetwork of the system 10 to the device 1. In our example, each of thework result packets sent back to the distributing device 1 includes anaddress or other identifier of the responding neighbor element thatperformed the sub-task as well as an identifier of the overall task/joband/or an identifier of the respective sub-task.

Upon sending sub-task results in step S10, each respondent neighborelement will release the resources utilized in processing the sub-task,at step S5. The resources become available again for other uses by theneighbor or for other distributed processing operations. After releasingthe resources, the neighbor element again will update its learning tableabout distributed processing (at S6), in this case, the sub-taskprocessing that the element performed for the device 1. In the completedsub-task scenario, for example, the neighbor will update its learnedperformance metric information based on analysis of the task of device 1to reflect the size of the assigned sub-task, the amount of resourcesand/or time utilized, what if any other tasks of the respondent neighborelement were delayed during this distributed processing operation, orthe like. The neighbor can use such learned performance metricinformation in future to adjust its responses to future queries fromdevice 1.

Returning to the result transmission step S10, as a result of thetransmissions from the neighbors selected back in step S10, the device 1will receive processing results or the sub-tasks from other intelligentsystem elements. In step S11 in our example, the device 1 compiles thereceived results and checks the composite result to determine if anywork packets were dropped or if there are any readily apparent errors.Sub-task identifiers and/or a combination of the overall task identifierand the neighbor address/identifier may assist the device 1 in combiningsub-task results from the various participating neighbor elements intothe appropriate overall composite result. At this point in ourdiscussion, we will assume that no packets were dropped and no errorsare detected. Hence, the compiling of the results of the allocatedsub-task processing from the other system elements assisting in thecurrent distributed processing operation essentially determines anoverall result of the processing job.

Processing by the device 1 proceeds to step S12, in which the device 1reports the overall result. The report function here is given by way ofjust one example of an action that the device 1 may perform based on theoverall result of the processing job. The report may be sent to a higherlevel processing element or service, e.g. a higher level control service57 or to an outside system management device 53 or 57. However, wherethe device 1 is also a server with respect to a client 89 or 91, thereport may be a transmission of the processing result or a command orthe like corresponding to the result back to the particular client 89 or91.

As other examples, reporting the result may involve taking some actionin the device 1, accessing data via the network, sending a face or voicerecognition result to an outside device of another party, etc. Ofcourse, the device or any other system element may act in any of avariety of other ways based on the overall result of the distributedprocessing operation.

At this point, it may be helpful to consider a voice recognitiontask/job, by way of an example. The device 1 has digitized audio data toprocess for recognition, for example, which a server instance 81C or 81Dmay have received from a client 91 executing in a device 19. The workpackets sent at S8 include portions of the digitized audio, e.g.sub-divided at apparent speech pauses between words. The neighborelements process received digital audio data to recognize one or morewords in the audio data segments. The returned work result packetsrepresent words of recognized speech. Each returned result may includeone or more words, depending on the amount of the audio data sent to therespective neighbor element. The device 1 compiles the received wordsinto a string of words in an order corresponding to the original audiostream (prior to division thereof for work packets).

At S12, the device 1 may simply send the string of words to anotherelement in or communicating with the system for further processing orthe like, e.g. back to the client 91 executing in a device 19.Alternatively, the device 1 may itself perform additional processing,e.g. to analyze the word string to recognize a command, in which casethe device 1 can act in response to the command or forward the commandto another element in or communicating with the system for furtherprocessing or the like. As an example of acting in response to theprocessing result, if the spoken command is a lighting command, thedevice 1 acting as a controller can then instruct some number oflighting devices 11 to adjust light settings thereof, in the servicearea where the audio for the spoken command was received as an input bya device 19, based on the command. Alternatively, if device 19 soughtprocessing assistance for recognizing a command with respect to deviceoperations, the device 1 could send the word string to an outsideserver, or the word string can be sent to the device 19 which then sendsthe string through networks 16, 61 to the outside server of the vendoror the like associated with the device to determine how the device is torespond and to send back the actual operational command forimplementation by the device 19.

Similar processing can be provided with respect to optical input torecognize a gesture and provide an appropriate instruction to the device19 as to how to respond to a user's gestural input.

As another example, if the recognized command is for obtaining access toother information, e.g. a request for a current quotation of the priceof a particular stock, the device 1 can format an appropriate query andsend that query to a server for a stock service. In response, the device1 receives data answering the inquiry, from the stock service server;and the device 1 sends the resulting answer information through thesystem to an element of the system or a device 19 that initiated thecommand input. The device 1 acting as a server sends the answerinformation to the appropriate elements or device in a format for anaudio or display output compatible with the features/capabilities of theelement or device, for local presentation in the service area where theaudio for the spoken information request command was received as aninput.

Returning to the exemplary processing flow of FIG. 7, upon completion ofthe shared resource type distributed processing job, e.g. upon reportingthe overall result in S12 in our example, the device 1 will also updateits learning table (step S13) to reflect the performance of variousother system elements with respect to the just completed job. Forexample, the table may be updated to reflect devices that did or did notoffer resources in response to the query. The learning table may beupdated to reflect successful completion by some of the other/neighborelements versus packets dropped or errors created by processing ofsub-tasks by still others of the neighbor elements. As outlined earlier,the device 1 can utilize the learning table updated in step S13 toimprove its neighbor selections (e.g. at steps S1-S2 and steps S7-S8) infuture distribution of jobs amongst its neighbors.

If sufficient resources are available and/or enough other elementsrespond, some or all of the work packets sent out at step S8 may beduplicated and sent to two or more of the selected respondent neighborelements, for redundant processing. When the device 1 compiles theresults at S11, it may receive duplicate sub-task processing results. Ifthe device 1 detects errors, in many cases, at least one of theduplicative sub-task processing results may be successful and free oferrors; and the device 1 can utilize the error free results and discardthe duplicate version that is subject to errors. In some cases, anelement that accepted a sub-task may not respond, at least in a timelyfashion. From the perspective of device 1, the work packet sent to suchan element has been ‘dropped.’ However, if another element assigned thesame sub-task successfully completes its processing of that sub-task,the device 1 can still compile the overall job result using successfullycompleted sub-task result from that other respondent. Hence, duplicativeallocation of sub-tasks can improve likelihood of successful completionof the distributed processing task. However, in some cases, problems maystill arise. In any of these cases, the update of the learning table instep S13 will reflect such outcomes with respect to the performancemetric data stored in the table relative to the respective neighborelements.

Assume next that when the device 1 checks results in step S11, and therethe device 1 determines that some portion of the job has not beensuccessfully completed. In this situation, the device 1 determines atstep S14 that some rework of the job is necessary. If capable, thedevice 1 may perform any additional processing needed itself. If not,however, then the device can again distribute some or all of thesub-tasks to other system elements. In our illustrated example,depending on the type and/or amount of further data processing requiredto complete the distributed processing task, processing flows from stepS14 back to S1 or S7 and from there through the other steps of theprocess, essentially as discussed above, to obtain distributedprocessing results to complete the overall data processing job.

There may be a variety of reasons why a sub-task is not successfullycompleted, and either the work packet is dropped or the results returnedto the device 1 are subject to errors. For example, some communicationmedia may be subject to communication-induced errors too extensive toaddress with routine error correction technologies. In other cases, somepart of the data network of the system 10 may be down or congested.However, in other cases, events at one or more of the selectedrespondent neighbor elements may result in a dropped work packet, asreflected in our exemplary process flow at steps S15 and S16.

Returning to step S9, the various neighbors that responded, wereselected and received work packets are processing data from the packetsin accordance with the associated data processing instructions. Theoverall processing job, and thus the sub-tasks thereof, will have anassigned priority. Other tasks handled by the various intelligent systemelements also have assigned priorities. At step S15, one of the systemelements that has been processing data from the work packets at S9 nowreceives (or internally generates) an interrupt in view of an apparentneed to perform some other task having a higher priority than theparticular distributed processing job. That element will suspend itsprocessing of the allocated sub-task and perform the processing for thehigher priority task. Depending on the resources and time taken for thehigher priority task, the element may be able to resume sub-taskprocessing after completing processing for the higher priority task andstill deliver its sub-task results within the timeframe set for theparticular distributed processing job. If not, however, then the systemelement will drop the processing of the work packet of the particulardistributed processing job (step S16), to process the higher prioritytask. In this later situation, the element will release the promisedresources at step S5. After releasing the resources, the neighborelement will update its learning table about distributed processingoffered by other elements, as shown at S6. In the interrupt scenario(that passed through S15), for example, the neighbor will update itslearned performance metric information about device 1 to reflect thatthe respondent neighbor element was unable to complete the sub-taskbefore dropping the packet to handle the interrupt for a higher prioritytask.

Although not discussed in detail, the device 1 may also process someportion data or otherwise perform some sub-task of the distributed jobbefore compiling the results. Alternatively, the device 1 itself may beinvolved as a respondent neighbor in another distributed processingoperation while it waits for responses from the respondent neighbors inthe job the device 1 distributed.

Although the discussion of FIG. 7 mainly focused on distributedprocessing amongst lighting devices, associated user interface devicesand sensor devices, as noted earlier, the resource sharing implementedby a process flow like the example of FIG. 7 may take advantage of andshare resources of any other type(s) of intelligent elements that arepart of or communicating via the lighting system 10. For example, thelighting system 10 may be able to use the memory and/or one or moreprocessors of a cooperative laptop, desktop computer, host/servercomputer or the like that is coupled to communicate via the datacommunication media of the lighting system 10. The system also maysupport communications and/or interactions with a wide range of otherdevices 19 within the premises 12 having some level of intelligence andhaving appropriate data communication capabilities. Although we havegenerally assumed a low processing capability in the other devicesand/or that the resource sharing assisted server or other operations onbehalf of client devices 19, if any of the other devices 19 haveresources to share and are appropriately programmed, the lighting system10 may be able to use the memories and/or processors of such othercooperative devices. Conversely, some computers coupled to thecommunication media and/or some other types of cooperative devices maybe able (and permitted if appropriate) to request and obtain access toresources of the lighting devices, associated user interface devices andsensor devices available for sharing for distributed processing in amanner like that shown by way of example in FIG. 7.

The intelligent system with wireless communication capabilities isactually more sophisticated than just a deployment of wireless accesspoints, such as WiFi hotspots, in widely spaced lighting devices, e.g.street light fixtures. The systems discussed above deploys wireless datacommunications nodes (operating at low power) relatively close togetherand throughout substantial portions or all of a premises. The deploymentof numerous low power relatively short range communication nodes cansupport communication for many electronic devices at the premises.

The wireless deployment may also be adapted to support a variety ofother communications, instead of or in addition to any or all of thewireless communications discussed above. For example, depending on thetype of wireless technology, the wireless-capable elements of the systemmay be able to pick-up data from RFID tags within range. As anotherexample, if at least some of the wireless-capable system elementsutilize mobile femto or pico cell technology, the lighting system mayalso provide network connectivity for compatible mobile devices whenoperating at the premises.

The examples of the wireless communications above focused mainly onimplementations using radio frequency type wireless communications. Thepresent concepts, however, encompass systems, system elements anddevices using or communicating with the system that implement thewireless communications utilizing other wireless technologies. Forexample, the wireless communications may use optical communication, e.g.in the visible light spectrum, infrared light, ultraviolet (UV) light orultrasonic waves. As another example, the wireless communications couldbe sonic, e.g., with text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology, thelighting system elements and the other devices could talk to each otherusing human comprehensible language.

As shown by the above discussion, although many intelligent processingfunctions of the system 10 are implemented in intelligent lightingsystem elements 11, 13, 15 or in the other devices 19, at least somefunctions of devices associated or in communication with the networkedlighting system 10 as discussed relative to FIGS. 1-3 may be implementedwith general purpose computers or other general purpose user terminaldevices, although special purpose devices may be used. FIGS. 8-10provide functional block diagram illustrations of exemplary generalpurpose hardware platforms.

FIG. 8 illustrates a network or host computer platform, as may typicallybe used to implement a host or server, such the computer 63 or server71. FIG. 9 depicts a computer with user interface elements, as may beused to implement a personal computer or other type of work station orterminal device, such as one of the terminal 65 in FIG. 1, although thecomputer of FIG. 10 may also act as a server if appropriatelyprogrammed. The block diagram of a hardware platform of FIG. 10represents an example of a mobile device, such as a tablet computer,smartphone or the like with a network interface to a wireless link,which may alternatively serve as a user terminal device like 65. It isbelieved that those skilled in the art are familiar with the structure,programming and general operation of such computer equipment and as aresult the drawings should be self-explanatory.

A server (see e.g. FIG. 8), for example, includes a data communicationinterface for packet data communication via the particular type ofavailable network. The server also includes a central processing unit(CPU), in the form of one or more processors, for executing programinstructions. The server platform typically includes an internalcommunication bus, program storage and data storage for various datafiles to be processed and/or communicated by the server, although theserver often receives programming and data via network communications.The hardware elements, operating systems and programming languages ofsuch servers are conventional in nature, and it is presumed that thoseskilled in the art are adequately familiar therewith. Of course, theserver functions may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a numberof similar platforms, to distribute the processing load.

A computer type user terminal device, such as a desktop or laptop typepersonal computer (PC), similarly includes a data communicationinterface CPU, main memory (such as a random access memory (RAM)) andone or more disc drives or other mass storage devices for storing userdata and the various executable programs (see FIG. 9). A mobile device(see FIG. 10) type user terminal may include similar elements, but willtypically use smaller components that also require less power, tofacilitate implementation in a portable form factor. The example of FIG.10 includes a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver (XCVR) suchas a 3G or 4G cellular network transceiver as well as a short rangewireless transceiver such as a Bluetooth and/or WiFi transceiver forwireless local area network (WLAN) communication. The computer hardwareplatform of FIG. 8 and the terminal computer platform of FIG. 9 areshown by way of example as using a RAM type main memory and a hard diskdrive for mass storage of data and programming, whereas the mobiledevice of FIG. 10 includes a flash memory and may include otherminiature memory devices. It may be noted, however, that more moderncomputer architectures, particularly for portable usage, are equippedwith semiconductor memory only.

The various types of user terminal devices will also include varioususer input and output elements. A computer, for example, may include akeyboard and a cursor control/selection device such as a mouse,trackball, joystick or touchpad; and a display for visual outputs (seeFIG. 9). The mobile device example in FIG. 10 uses a touchscreen typedisplay, where the display is controlled by a display driver, and usertouching of the screen is detected by a touch sense controller (Ctrlr).The hardware elements, operating systems and programming languages ofsuch computer and/or mobile user terminal devices also are conventionalin nature, and it is presumed that those skilled in the art areadequately familiar therewith.

Although FIGS. 8-10 in their present form show computers and userterminal devices, generally similar configurations also may be usedwithin other elements of the lighting system 10 or within various typesof other devices 19. For example, one implementation of the brain,communication and interface elements of a lighting device 11, of astandalone sensor 15, of a user interface device 13 or of any of theother devices 19 may utilize an architecture similar to that of one ofthe computers or mobile terminals. As a more specific example, thepersonal computer type hardware in FIG. 9 (except for the keyboard,mouse and display) could serve as the brain and communication elementsof a lighting device, where the input/output interface I/O wouldinterface to an appropriate light driver and to any sensor(s) or otherenhancement input or output device(s) included within the lightingdevice. As another example of use of an architecture similar to those ofFIGS. 8-10 that may be utilized in a system like that of FIG. 1, alighting controller or other user interface device (UI) might utilize anarrangement similar to the mobile device of FIG. 10, albeit possiblywith only one transceiver compatible with the networking technology forthe data network 17 of the particular premises 12 (e.g. to reducecosts).

For information about other examples of intelligent lighting devices,which may be suitable for use in a networked lighting system like thatof FIG. 1, attention may be directed to U.S. application Ser. No.13/463,594 Filed May 3, 2012 entitled “LIGHTING DEVICES WITH INTEGRALSENSORS FOR DETECTING ONE OR MORE EXTERNAL CONDITIONS AND NETWORKEDSYSTEM USING SUCH DEVICES,” the disclosure of which is entirelyincorporated herein by reference.

Although not discussed in detail, a lighting system such as system 10 ofFIG. 1 may also support autonomous discovery and commissioning. Suchdiscovery and commissioning may be particularly useful in system set-up,however, some aspects may also apply to allowing other devices tocommunicate with or through the lighting system. For example, lightingdevices and/or other intelligent system elements may be configured toautonomously discover other non-lighting-system devices and commissiondiscovered devices at least to the extent appropriate to permit theaccess to the system's data network and through that network to thewider area network outside the premises for non-lighting relatedcommunications of the other devices. For more information on this topic,attention may be directed to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/903,330, FiledMay 28, 2013 entitled “LIGHTING NETWORK WITH AUTONOMOUS COMMISSIONING.”

As also outlined above, aspects of the techniques for providing wirelesscommunication access for other devices 19 at the premises 12 and anysystem interaction therewith, may involve some programming, e.g.programming of the appropriate system elements 11, 13 or 15, devices 19and/or computers, terminals or the like in communication therewith.Program aspects of the technology discussed above therefore may bethought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture” typically in theform of executable code and/or associated data (software or firmware)that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine readable medium.“Storage” type media include any or all of the tangible memory of thecomputers, processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, suchas various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and thelike, which may provide non-transitory storage at any time for thesoftware or firmware programming. All or portions of the programming mayat times be communicated through the Internet or various othertelecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enableloading of the software from one computer or processor into another, forexample, from a management server or host computer of the lightingsystem service provider into any of the lighting devices, sensors, userinterface devices, other non-lighting-system devices, etc. of or coupledto the system 10 at the premises 12, including both programming forindividual element functions and programming for distributed processingfunctions. Thus, another type of media that may bear thesoftware/firmware program elements includes optical, electrical andelectromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces betweenlocal devices, through wired and optical landline networks and overvarious air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such aswired or wireless links, optical links or the like, also may beconsidered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unlessrestricted to non-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such ascomputer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.

It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein havethe ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions withrespect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and studyexcept where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be usedsolely to distinguish one entity or action from another withoutnecessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or orderbetween such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” “including,” or any other variation thereof, are intended tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include onlythose elements but may include other elements not expressly listed orinherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An elementproceeded by “a” or “an” does not, without further constraints, precludethe existence of additional identical elements in the process, method,article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Unless otherwise stated, any and all measurements, values, ratings,positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are setforth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, areapproximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable rangethat is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with whatis customary in the art to which they pertain.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the bestmode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modificationsmay be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may beimplemented in various forms and examples, and that they may be appliedin numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein.It is intended by the following claims to claim any and allmodifications and variations that fall within the true scope of thepresent concepts.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lighting system, comprising: a data networkconfigured to enable data communication within a premises and to providedata communication access to a wide area network extending outside thepremises; and intelligent lighting system elements, including: lightingdevices each comprising a light source, and either a user interfacedevice configured for lighting control or a lighting-related sensorincluding a detector, each of the intelligent lighting system elementscomprising: a communication interface system, including at least onecommunication interface, configured to enable communication via a linkto the data network; and a processor coupled to communicate via thecommunication interface and the data network link and configured tocontrol a lighting related operation of the respective intelligentlighting system element, wherein for each respective one of a pluralityof the intelligent lighting system elements, including at least two ofthe lighting devices: the communication interface system of therespective intelligent lighting system element is further configured toprovide an optical wireless data communication link for use by aplurality of other non-lighting-system devices at the premises havingoptical transmitters and receivers in range of the respectiveintelligent lighting system element; and the processor of the respectiveintelligent lighting system element is configured to controlcommunications via the communication interface system of the respectiveintelligent lighting system element to provide access to the datanetwork and through the data network to the wide area network outsidethe premises for non-lighting related communications of the plurality ofnon-lighting-system devices in a respective optical wirelesscommunication zone provided by the respective intelligent lightingsystem element.
 2. The system as in claim 1, wherein the at least onecommunication interface of each respective intelligent lighting systemelement includes: a first communication interface configured to supportdata communication over the link to the data network; and a secondcommunication interface, comprising an optical transmitter and anoptical receiver configured to provide the optical wireless datacommunication link.
 3. The system as in claim 2, wherein the secondcommunication interface is configured to provide the optical wirelessdata communication link via one of: visible light spectrum; infraredlight; or ultraviolet (UV) light.
 4. The system as in claim 1, whereinat least one of the intelligent lighting system elements is furtherconfigured to communicate data to/from one of the othernon-lighting-system devices and to perform a processing operation tosupport an operation of a processor of the one other non-lighting-systemdevice.
 5. The system as in claim 4, wherein the at least one of theintelligent lighting system elements comprises a plurality of theintelligent lighting system elements configured to perform theprocessing operation to support the operation of the processor of theone other non-lighting-system device in a distributed processing mannerusing processing and/or memory resources of each of the plurality of theintelligent lighting system elements.
 6. The system as in claim 5,wherein the plurality of the intelligent lighting system elementsconfigured to perform the processing operation in a distributedprocessing manner comprises: first and second ones of the intelligentlighting system elements; and first and second instances of serverprogramming stored in respective memories of the first and secondintelligent lighting system elements for execution by processors of thefirst and second intelligent lighting system elements, which configurethe first and second intelligent lighting system elements to operate ina distributed processing fashion to implement a server function withrespect to the operation of the processor of the one othernon-lighting-system device and to perform server communications with aclient executing on the processor of the one other non-lighting-systemdevice.
 7. The system as in claim 5, wherein the processor in the atleast one of the intelligent lighting system elements is furtherconfigured to implement distributed processing functions, includingfunctions to: identify a processing job to be performed to supportprocessing operation to support the operation of the processor of theone other non-lighting-system device, the processing potentiallyinvolving use of resources of others of the intelligent lighting systemelements: query the other intelligent lighting system elements andreceive responses from the other intelligent lighting system elements,via the data network, as to whether or not the other intelligentlighting system elements have processing or memory resources availablefor the processing job; based on the responses, allocate portions of theprocessing job to a plurality of the other intelligent lighting systemelements; send data and instructions via the data network to eachintelligent lighting system element of the plurality of the otherintelligent lighting system elements, for performing an allocatedportion of the processing job; receive from at least some of theplurality of the other intelligent lighting system elements, via thedata network, results of the performance of the allocated portions ofthe processing job; process the received results to determine an overallresult of the processing job; and perform an action in support of theoperation of the processor of the one other non-lighting-system device,based on the overall result of the processing job.
 8. The system as inclaim 7, the processor of each respective one of the intelligentlighting system elements is further configured to implement furtherdistributed processing functions, including functions to: respond to aninquiry received from one of the intelligent lighting system elementsvia the data network by sending a response with information identifyingprocessing resources of the processor and/or resources in the memory ofthe respective intelligent lighting system element available fordistributed processing via the data network to the one intelligentlighting system element; receive data and instructions for performing aportion of the processing job from the one intelligent system elementvia the data network; process the received data in accordance with theinstructions using resources of the processor and/or memory of therespective intelligent lighting system element; and send a result of theprocessing to the one intelligent lighting system element via the datanetwork.
 9. The system as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of theintelligent lighting system elements include at least two intelligentlighting system elements of the plurality in each of a plurality ofservice areas of the premises configured to provide optical wirelessdata communication links for use by other non-lighting-system devices ineach of the service areas of the premises.
 10. The system as in claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of non-lighting-system devices are locatedwithin an area defined by a small cell of optical wireless coverageprovided by the communication interface system of the respectiveintelligent lighting system element.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: acommunication interface system, including at least one communicationinterface, the communication interface system being configured to:enable communication via a link to a data network of a lighting systemat a premises served by the lighting system, and provide an opticalwireless data communication link for use by non-lighting-system devicesat the premises having optical transmitters and receivers in range ofthe apparatus; and a processor configured to: control a lighting relatedoperation of the apparatus; and control communications via thecommunication interface system to: (1) perform a lighting system controlfunction; and (2) provide optical wireless access to the data networkand to provide access through the data network to a wide area networkoutside the premises for non-lighting related communications ofnon-lighting-system devices in an optical wireless communication zoneprovided by the apparatus.
 12. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein theat least one communication interface includes: a first communicationinterface configured to support data communication over the link to thedata network; and a second communication interface, including an opticaltransmitter and an optical receiver configured to provide the opticalwireless data communication link.
 13. The apparatus as in claim 11,wherein the communication interface system is configured to provide theoptical wireless data communication link via one of: visible lightspectrum; infrared light; or ultraviolet (UV) light.
 14. An intelligentsystem element for operation in a lighting system of a premises, theintelligent system element comprising: a lighting related component; acommunication interface system configured to enable communication via alink to a data network of the lighting system; and a processor coupledto and configured to control the lighting related component to implementat least one lighting related function for the system and coupled to thecommunication interface system, wherein: the communication interfacesystem is further configured to provide an optical wireless datacommunication link for use by non-lighting-system devices at thepremises having optical transmitters and receivers in proximity to theintelligent system element; and the processor is further configured tocontrol communications via the communication interface system to provideaccess to the data network of the lighting system and through the datanetwork of the lighting system to a wide area network outside thepremises for non-lighting related communications of non-lighting-systemdevices in an optical wireless communication zone provided by theintelligent system element.
 15. The intelligent system element of claim14, wherein: the lighting related component comprises a light source;and the processor is configured to control the light source so as toconfigure the intelligent system element to operate as a lighting deviceof the lighting system.
 16. The intelligent system element of claim 14,wherein: the lighting related component comprises a user interfacecomponent; and the processor is coupled to the user interface componentand configured so that the intelligent system element operates as alighting controller with respect to one or more lighting devices of thelighting system.
 17. The intelligent system element of claim 14,wherein: the lighting related component comprises a detector; and theprocessor is responsive to input from the detector and configured sothat the intelligent system element operates as a sensor of the lightingsystem.
 18. The intelligent system element of claim 14, furthercomprising: a memory accessible by the processor; and executable serverprogramming stored in the memory, wherein execution of the serverprogramming by the processor configures the intelligent system elementto communicate with a client executing on a processor of at least onenon-lighting-system device at the premises in communication with theintelligent system element via the optical wireless link or via the datanetwork of the lighting system.
 19. The intelligent system element ofclaim 18, wherein execution of programming from the memory by theprocessor further configures the intelligent system element to perform aprocessing job in response to a client request from the at least onenon-lighting-system device on a distributed processing basis.
 20. Theintelligent system element of claim 19, wherein the execution of theprogramming by the processor to configure the intelligent system elementto perform the processing job configures the intelligent system elementto perform functions, including functions to: query other intelligentsystem elements via the data network and receive responses from theother intelligent system elements as to whether or not the otherintelligent system elements have processing or memory resourcesavailable for the processing job; based on the responses, allocateportions of the processing job to a plurality of the other intelligentsystem elements; send data and instructions to each intelligent systemelement of the plurality of the other intelligent system elements, forperforming an allocated portion of the processing job; receive from atleast some of the plurality of the other intelligent system elementsresults of the performance of the allocated portions of the processingjob; process the received results to determine an overall result of theprocessing job; and perform an action responsive to the client requestbased on the overall result of the processing job.
 21. The intelligentsystem element of claim 14, wherein the communication interface systemis configured to provide the optical data communication link via one of:visible light spectrum; infrared light; or ultraviolet (UV) light.